British Expats

British Expats (https://britishexpats.com/forum/)
-   Immigration, Visas & Citizenship (Australia) (https://britishexpats.com/forum/immigration-visas-citizenship-australia-32/)
-   -   AusFis company - is it a scam or legitimate? (https://britishexpats.com/forum/immigration-visas-citizenship-australia-32/ausfis-company-scam-legitimate-660020/)

vopxxx Mar 18th 2010 11:57 am

AusFis company - is it a scam or legitimate?
 
Be warned of phone calls from AusFis demanding money!

I thought I should share with you that a friend of mine in the UK who has recently received multiple phone calls claimed to be from AusFis. From their website, it states AUSFIS is an organization offers you the opportunity to participate in the Australian skill migration program where you may be eligible for a permanent visa to live and work in Australia (see http://www.ausfis.org/Home.aspx)

He said that the people who called him sounds like American and Indian. They called him a few times on Sunday morning which I found abit odd and said to him that he has enough points and they will get him a temp Working visa easily even though he is 42, not highly skilled and they wanted him to pay USD219 immediately to process his application.

However, he did not part any money but ask the Agents a few more questions about 1) type of visa; 2) work assignment; 3) contract; 4) lock in period, etc.. but they have not replied to his queries to date.

Has any of you experienced or been through this process with AusFis before as they look fishy and a scam/fraud to me... it looks like that they try to put your hope up, take your money and run..

Would love to hear your thoughts....

parangaitok Mar 24th 2010 12:43 pm

Re: AusFis company - is it a scam or legitimate?
 
Same thing here, I clicked on their banner for more info, they asked to register, thinking they were legit, I popped in my details and was confronted with a new page asking for money. I quickly left, and when I received the first email I unsubscribed immediately.

Just received a call this afternoon from on of their reps, asking me about my application, I told him that I unsubscribed from their service, so 'why am I receiving this call?' His response was 'How can I unsubscribe from a Visa application?' He was not only rude, but arrogant too. He then asked, 'do you, or do you NOT want to leave $$$$$$$ and come and live and work in Australia' I told him no. He hung up in my face.

After 5 minutes I received another email from them asking to complete registration.

It's disgusting that these things still happen, what are these governments doing to stop these cowboys?

Laura26 Jul 7th 2010 4:38 pm

Re: AusFis company - is it a scam or legitimate?
 
Hello, I`m Laura and i`m from Romania. i actually thought i got once in my life lucky and i gave them my debit card details. It seemed so real, and i remembered i had applied on this site a long time ago. They kept me on the phone more than an hour asking me details about my experience in the IT field and what sort of certifications i have... they asked me if i am married or not and when i told them that i was engaged they told me to fill up an application form for my fiance because his score might be better than mine. I gaved them my debit card number (thank god i don`t have a credit card) and they told me that they will try to withdraw the amount of 509 euros from my bank account. today i made some digging about the site and i saw that the webpage is hosted on a server that is in uk so wtf ? this is the ip i found 212.187.241.185 when i pasted into a dns resolver .ausfis.org. i am so disappointed about this... Anyone else made some digging about this organization ? is there a chance to actually be a real organization or have you heard about similar programs ? please reply.:fingerscrossed:

525252 Jul 7th 2010 9:20 pm

Re: AusFis company - is it a scam or legitimate?
 
haha
SCAM is written all over their website
They claim to be a "Official Government program"
however have a .org domain (which anyone can get, unlike a .gov)

a links page ausfis.org/Links.aspx
which says that they are affiliated with some crappy language translation software and the "Green Card Lottery Program Information"...wow! that is some affiliation for a Govt organization

and what a coincidence that both the language translation software and the American green card site are also hosted on the same subnet 212.187.241.X

they also offer a "call me" service
since when the Aus govt has got so desperate to get immigrants ?

the about us page says

The Ausfis Organization ® was established in order to support the Australian Government in its efforts to boost the economy by increasing the number of visas granted to skilled emigrants and improving the immigration process so it becomes more widely available to skilled people around the world.
heck, than why does the Australian govt has DIAC?
looks like that these guys are pretty soon going to get DIAC out of business ..

the FAQ page says that www .ausfis.org/FAQ_Program.aspx

The changes announced to the skilled Migration program by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship are:

* a new section 499 ministerial direction on priority processing
* the introduction of a critical skills list (CSL)
now, they are doing a real good work on keeping their website updated

scb Jul 7th 2010 11:13 pm

Re: AusFis company - is it a scam or legitimate?
 
Looks 100% dodgy.... and SCAM..

Some one should inform DIAC about it and get rid of these idiots from net to make sure they stop robbing innocent people's money!!

Laura26 Jul 8th 2010 1:08 am

Re: AusFis company - is it a scam or legitimate?
 
And I was so sure it was a legit company. I should've known better. Fortunatly I don't use that card that often and I called the bank and told I lost my card and now it's just a piece of plastic :D and I thank god that I don't own a cc cause I would've been screwed right now. I will try to report this scam, I hope that someone will do somethig about it because there could be some other persons ripped off daily and it's not fair. They have a big call center because I was interviewed by 5 different persons and every single one was asking me if I have ever beeen to Australia. Let's do something about it people!!! And thank you guys for replying so soon:thumbup:

Pollyana Jul 9th 2010 12:26 pm

Re: AusFis company - is it a scam or legitimate?
 
A few points on this thread.

1) People are advised to do as many checks as they can on any company or agent they decide to use. DIAC recommends that any agent used for immigration assistance should be registered with MARA.

2) If people feel there is an issue with a registered aganet they should contact MARA. If they have entered into a deal with a non-registered agent, there are no safeguards in place.

3) All visas have their own rules, but it is perfectly possible for a 42 year old to be granted a working visa, as long as all the other conditions are met.

4) Just because a company uses Paypal doesn't mean they are legit - or not.

5) Any website can post a link to DIAC, it doesn't prove anything. I could post one on my own website if I was so inclined. This website is full of them - doesn't imply or mean anything.

6) It is perfectly possible to apply for a visa without the aid of any agents or visa companies. At least half of the posters on this website have done it, for starters.

JoeBlogsOfOz Jul 9th 2010 3:09 pm

Re: AusFis company - is it a scam or legitimate?
 
How come somebody's first post on BE is about defending a supposedly scam site, seems like somebody from the site itself. And they are looking to put some "balance in the debate".... Why don't they say on their website if they are MARA registered or not?

louie Jul 9th 2010 5:06 pm

Re: AusFis company - is it a scam or legitimate?
 
That's very young to have the experience/qualifcations to qualify for GSM. What do you do?

It would be good to hear back from you when (if?) you do get your visa.

As to whether it is a scam, I don't know. They do say "Final words of clarification: Ausfis Organization and the ausfis.org website are private entities and are not governmental agencies", though it's quite carefully hidden on their website. I'd certainly say they are trying to give the impression that they are associated with the Australian Government in some way and their information is way out of date ("There have been no changes to the points allocated for MODL"!). I certainly wouldn't use them.

525252 Jul 9th 2010 5:27 pm

Re: AusFis company - is it a scam or legitimate?
 
and you signed up here just to let us know about this?

did ausfis also get you exempted from IELTS :rolleyes: now don't tell me that you are from UK

Pollyana Jul 9th 2010 7:12 pm

Re: AusFis company - is it a scam or legitimate?
 
A compnay doesnt register with MARA, it employs agents who register. If you use a registered agent you have protection from MARA against malpractice etc, and you know that the agent is expected to maintain certain standards of service
BE would always advise checking that the agent working on your case is MARA registered. Agents signing up to BE and posting in that capacity are always asked to show their MARA number in their signature.

Laura26 Jul 10th 2010 4:01 am

Re: AusFis company - is it a scam or legitimate?
 
First of all you just contradicted yourself. You said you didn't give them your cc number and afterwards you just said that they haven't charged your cc more than you have agreed. Will you make up your mind?

1. You are quite young for some solid working background. What is your qualification?
2. Your English is very bad so WTF? When they called me they said I need to have excellent English skills, both speaking and writting, you can't spell a word right.
3. So what if they work with paypal? Haven't you heard about scams hrough paypal?
4. If you ask one of the Australian immigration offiecers they will tell you that the best way to obtain a visa is directly from your country's embassy and not some organisation
4. You said that you have tried on your own to get a visa and you didn't have the necessary score. You should've had the same score through the ausfis organization.
You just keep contradicting yourself and it looks like there is something fishy about you. The boys asked you where are you from? You never answered. So girl you have some blanks to fill out if you want us to believe you. And btw I could be James bond by name ;) if you are trying to tell me that you have checked the agent's name with Mara

Tina7 Jul 10th 2010 6:29 am

Re: AusFis company - is it a scam or legitimate?
 
It's apparently a scam and has been flagged as a phishing site. There is some info about them if one performs an online search. They do steal a part of DIAC's site by using the same tagline -- People our business

Steer clear of them.

525252 Jul 10th 2010 6:48 am

Re: AusFis company - is it a scam or legitimate?
 

Originally Posted by JoeBlogsOfOz (Post 8689288)
How come somebody's first post on BE is about defending a supposedly scam site, seems like somebody from the site itself. And they are looking to put some "balance in the debate".... Why don't they say on their website if they are MARA registered or not?

It isn't the problem if they are MARA registered or not
the problem is that they are Portraying themselves self as some sort of Govt organization

see the about us page

The Ausfis Organization ® was established in order to support the Australian Government in its efforts to boost the economy by increasing the number of visas granted to skilled emigrants and improving the immigration process so it becomes more widely available to skilled people around the world.

Axe Jul 10th 2010 10:11 am

Re: AusFis company - is it a scam or legitimate?
 
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ju-5cpu90t...scam+alert.jpg
Stay away from this company. Although their website is very well laid out and contains enough truth to be convincing. It is a scam. I don't know how people like this live with themselves! Even worse, I feel for those who pay their money then spend months (or years) waiting for a visa that isn't going to come when they could have applied through a proper route!
  1. The company's website is hosted in the UK, but it is in fact an isreali company.
  2. They have several such sites (such as USAfis.net and some green card lottery sites)
  3. They always hint they have an 'in' with the immigration of the country and their websites look remarkably similar to the respective government sites.
  4. Part of their modus operandi is to visit emigration forums and say how happy they are with the service received. We have seen this in this very thread!

If anyone has paid any money to this company, I suggest you contact your credit card company immediately and register a complaint and try reverse the charge.

For anyone else reading this, use a MARA registered agent!.

This company makes promises that they can deliver what other company's can't. But they can't deliver... don't be drawn in by the impossible!


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