An organized criminal group is targeting Australia`s work holiday visa program, tempting backpackers to pay thousands of dollars in forged documents to extend their stay in Australia.
The rampant fraud involves using the ABN of Australian farmers and rural businesses to claim that backpackers have been working for them, even if they have never left the city.
Backpackers across Australia have become a target for the group, which offers one-stop services that pretend to help backpackers get a second-year visa.
Backpackers need only 88 days of work in approved industries such as agriculture in rural areas to obtain a second-year working holiday visa using supporting documents.
A German backpacker, alias Emma, was persuaded that the program was not "totally illegal" and became a victim of the group.
The 22-year-old was told that farmers would use the money she paid to hire another worker and pay 1750 yuan to falsify documents in her name.
Emma said: "my roommates also managed to get a second-year work visa through this guy, and so was the others, so I was just one of them."
Emma said the mastermind of the Chinese criminal group, known as Ben, told her that he worked at the Ministry of the Interior and knew farmers well. She presented false documents on her behalf, and within a minute Emma was granted an extension of her visa.
Emma found that Ben and the criminal group had been operating for at least six years and could receive a commission of up to 200 yuan if backpackers recommended new clients to Ben.
Later, when Emma wanted to apply for a study visa to stay in Australia, she was identified by the Home Office as a fraud and decided to expose details of the fraud.
The Home Office discovered that her documents were forged and ordered her not to enter Australia for three years. Now, she wants to warn others and help the federal government stop fraud.
Belgian backpacker Scales (Lionel Scalais) says he has heard of many backpackers who "buy fake documents" to get visas for the next year and are really useful. But Scales insisted he had not done so, working on a farm in Bandabberg. "I abide by the law." He said。
Mr. Wei, a backpacker from Hong Kong, also worked on a legal farm to get a holiday visa for the next year, but he had heard that others had paid as much as 3000 yuan to buy fake documents. Mr. Wei and his friend, Emi from Japan, believe that the 88-day requirement to work on a farm is too difficult and that many of the people they know have given up.
"they`re losing really good people because it`s too hard," Emi said.
O`Donohu (Anne O`Donoghue), a certified immigration law expert with more than 25 years of experience, said Emma`s case was not isolated.
Ms. O`Donohu said she saw a lot of people pay third parties to forge experiences of working in rural areas and get into trouble. "they were young, vulnerable, exploited, made mistakes and worried about the consequences," she said.
Some backpackers also revealed that once their forged documents were submitted to the immigration department and successfully applied for visas the next year, they would be subjected to further extortion from fraud syndicates.
The fraudulent use of forged documents to illegally obtain a second-year working holiday visa appears to have been going on for many years.
About a decade ago, the former Department of Immigration (now the Ministry of the Interior) established an expert integrity unit to combat widespread fraud in the working holiday visa system at the time.
The review team found more than 200 Internet ads claiming to be able to buy and sell false rural work documents.
How the scam works
Emma, then 22, was introduced to an Asian man named Ben. They met in front of the ICC building in Sydney Port, where she was asked to bring her cash and passport. Emma met Ben through the introduction of her backpacker`s roommate. After paying for fake documents, they all got their second-year visas.
She learned that Ben and the gang had been operating for years, even to introduce new backpackers to 200 yuan in commission. But Ben would stay away from the newcomers until they were sure they could trust them. The backpackers who act as referees will provide the number and name of the newcomer, and Ben will call them to arrange a meeting.
Emma said the man she met was Asian, with dark brown hair, dark skin and about 170 centimeters tall. He was thin, jeans, rags, and a baseball cap.
Emma handed over her money and passport, but she never saw fake documents. Ben said he would take care of everything, create a new account and file for her. The contact information for that account was in Emma`s own email, so at the time of this application, Emma received a confirmation email and the Immigration Service approved the visa "within a minute".
She also received a receipt online with a visa application fee of A $444.31 and credit card information from the person who paid for her.
Emma said she also saw the names of several farmers and businesses who were thought to be complicit in the fraud and saw the bank account of another Chinese cheater in the group.
She now wants to warn people that if they want to go back to Australia in the future, they may be affected. "I know now that I am a complete fool." "I`d be happy to help the authorities and give them all the information I have," Emma said.
