Visa + dream job—I paid thousands. Got neither.

I wanted to work abroad; an “employer” paired with an “agency” offered a visa plus a job if I paid processing, medical, and legal fees up front.

The package looked organised—PDFs, timelines, logos.

I wired thousands in stages; each milestone unlocked a new fee while the visa application number they gave never appeared on the embassy’s tracker.

Replies thinned, then stopped.

Fake visa and overseas job scams sell paperwork that does not exist.

Real immigration routes go through official government portals and registered sponsors—not unsolicited agencies demanding urgent wires.

While I sent money I was afraid to miss the window they invented; verifying with the embassy felt slower than their countdown emails.

The embassy helpline and the named company on the offer both said they had never heard of the agency; the job listing was fabricated.

The savings I had set aside for relocation were gone; explaining that to family was as hard as the financial hole.

I confirm visas and job offers only through official immigration sites and employer contacts I reach myself—never through upfront fees to strangers.

• Verify sponsorship and visas with government sources; report fraud to immigration fraud lines and consumer bodies.
• Refuse pressure to wire large sums before verifiable documentation exists.

For more help, see our Report a scam page and Spot and avoid scams guide.