The Australian Embassy in Amman is aware of several email scams targeting Syrian, Iraqi and Jordanian nationals, in addition to nationals from other countries.
People called ‘scammers’ might try to get you to give them private information that could be used to steal your identity or trick you into paying them money.
Watch out for:
- Emails sent from free web mail addresses, such as a Yahoo, Hotmail or Gmail accounts.
- Enexpected emails from strangers who are advertising a website – do not click on web links in these emails.
- Unexpected emails asking for personal information or emails with standard greetings, such as ‘Dear customer’.
- Offers guaranteeing you a job with a very high income.
Take the following steps to protect yourself against email and internet scams:
- Check the web address. Australian Government websites end in .gov.au (for example www.homeaffairs.gov.au or www.dfat.gov.au)
- Use our website to track the processing of your visa application.
- Never enter private information online unless the website is secure and you know who you are dealing with. Secure websites are locked. A locked website should have a padlock somewhere in the browser window (not in the web page display area). You can click on the lock to see details of the website’s security. The web page will normally have a web page address that begins with https://.
If you are worried about a website, do a web search to see if anyone has reported any problems with it:
- Visit the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Scamwatch page for details on the latest known scams.
- When searching for a registered migration agent, use the Migration Agents Registration Authority search form.
Known Scams
.pn email address scam
The Department is aware of a scam that uses email addresses ending in .pn to contact people seeking to migrate to Australia
The scammer contacts the victim through a fake email address and claims to be from the Department, or another Australian Government agency. The email address used by the scammer is not a genuine departmental email address and ends in .pn.
Please note that emails received from any address ending in .pn are not sent by the Australian Government. The email addresses are in no way affiliated with the Australian Embassy or the Department of Home Affairs.
[email protected] email scam
The Embassy has become aware of another scam involving the email address [email protected].
Victims claim to have received an email from this address guaranteeing a visa for Australia. Victims have reported paying substantial amounts of money to the sender in order to obtain a visa for Australia.
Systems checks have confirmed that no visa applications have been received by the Department of Home Affairs for the victims.
'Australian Government' letter scam
The Australian Embassy is also aware of clients being issued with a letter from the ‘Australian Government’ relating to a refugee application. The postal address on these letters is recorded as 203 Castlereagh St, Sydney. Please note that this is a scam and the Australian Embassy had no part in issuing these letters.
For further information regarding email scams, please visit https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/visa/migration-fraud-and-scams.