A Nottingham care assistant desperate for a work visa lost £8,000 to a fraudster who promised her work in the NHS.
National Fraud Helpline managed to recover all of her money but is warning about a rise in work visa scams.
Regina Sefah, 32, has warned others not to fall foul of scammers who charge high fees to secure a visa and then fail to deliver.
The mum-of-one was not getting enough shifts from her existing sponsor to meet the UK’s minimum earnings threshold, so started looking for a new sponsor.
A friend recommended someone who she said could secure her a visa, plus work for the NHS.
But after paying an £8,000 deposit on a total fee of £11,000, he left her high and dry and then refused to refund her money.
Luckily, Regina contacted National Fraud Helpline solicitors, a trading name of Richardson Hartley Law, who were able to recover all of her money from her bank, Revolut. Banks have obligations from regulators to help protect their customers from fraud
Revolut had not queried any of her payments, even though they were unusually large amounts for her to send during the work visa scam.
Fiona Bresnen, a lawyer at National Fraud Helpline solicitors, said: “We are seeing more and more of these work visa scams.
“Very often the scammers are taking advantage of vulnerable people who are desperate to work.
“Most commonly, the victims are introduced by friends who have met someone who says they can help them to get a visa.
“We’ve noticed recently that very often the visa scammers will give some of the money back to the victim at the end of the scam. They tell the victim that they had tried to help but failed and had accrued costs so can’t refund them in full .
“We think the fraudsters do this so that if they’re questioned by police it looks like a less obvious scam.
“Some of the people we deal with are left penniless as they give all their money to fraudsters in a desperate bid to get a work visa.
“We’re delighted we were able to help Regina recover all of her money.”
Speaking of the scam, Regina said: “I felt very bad, disappointed and frustrated. It was all my savings gone. These people are taking advantage of the frustration people are going through.
“I even quarrelled with my friend, because I said ‘you should not refer people to this person because they are not genuine’.
“I would advise people in my situation to calm down and don’t be in a rush, because once you become impatient you are likely to be scammed. Go through the official government channels instead.”
Regina, who moved to the UK with her husband from Ghana on a student visa three years ago, started working in the care sector on a sponsorship having completed a masters degree in human resources.
When she needed a new sponsor, she made three payments, one of £4,000 and two of £2,000 on November 9 and 10, last year, to the scammer from her Revolut account as part of the work visa scam.
Three months passed, but she had heard nothing from the man who promised her a visa or a job in the NHS.
“I was waiting patiently to hear from them, but I heard nothing,” she said. “So I asked ‘what’s going on?’
“He told me it was in progress, that they had done the application, and they are waiting for approval from the NHS. Almost every day he kept telling me stories.”
When no visa or job offer was forthcoming, she asked for her money back.
“All they said was they’ve used the money for the application,” she added. “It was today this, tomorrow that – they kept tossing me here and there.”
Regina has since been able to secure a sponsorship, at no cost, with a care home where she was working part time.
“You don’t need to pay, the scammers are just taking advantage of people. I was very happy to get my money back.”
Find out more about How To Get A Proper Work Visa.
Have you lost money to a work visa scam? Contact National Fraud Helpline. Call 0333 0033218 or fill out our Claim Form.
