- Authorities are warning travelers about fake e-visa websites that mimic official portals for Canada, the UK, and Thailand.
- Scammers use search engine manipulation to defraud applicants of fees ranging from three hundred to seventeen hundred Hong Kong dollars.
- U.S. officials introduced a new global visa restriction policy in July twenty twenty-six targeting individuals involved in cyber-enabled scams.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data warned travelers Tuesday about fake e-visa websites that copied official portals and climbed search results with search-engine tricks. The Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data said the office received 16 inquiries or complaints over the last three months. The cases involved sites posing as services for Canada, the UK and Thailand.
Scammers steered users to lookalike pages, then asked for passport numbers, dates of birth and nationalities. Victims also paid 'processing fees' before realizing the sites were bogus. Losses ranged from HK$300 to over HK$1,700 per applicant. The pages were pushed up by SEO manipulation.
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U.S. agencies have been warning about the same playbook. The Department of Homeland Security has also moved against spoofed portals, and USCIS issued an alert after a fraudulent site started appearing in Google search results on June 23, 2026. The fake page was designed to look identical to uscis.gov, including a fake 'official government website' banner.
The warning was blunt. Secretary of State Marco Rubio tied the crackdown to cybercrime on July 23, 2026.
"Today, I am announcing a new global visa restriction policy. This policy targets individuals responsible for, or complicit in, cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime, such as those involved in cyberscams. By restricting visa issuance to those who are responsible for or complicit in these criminal enterprises, we are sending a clear message: The United States will go after those who prey on our citizens."
Fake portals sold urgency and a false sense of speed
Those warnings fit a much bigger fraud market. In 2025, visa fraud and immigration scams cost applicants an estimated $1.2 billion globally, and U.S.-bound applicants represented 38% of reported cases. The scale keeps the scams profitable.
The damage can go beyond a stolen fee. Victims may miss official deadlines or feed in fake information, which can lead to permanent inadmissibility under U.S. law. Passport and biographic data can also help criminals manufacture fraudulent travel documents or hijack official government accounts. That risk starts with one form.
The government pages all point back to .gov
The payment trail is another clue. Scammers often demand cryptocurrency, wire transfers or prepaid cards, while U.S. government sites do not use those channels. The first click is usually the expensive one.
US officials have put up more warning signs. The department's July 2026 'Worst of the Worst' transparency portal sits at wow.dhs.gov, and USCIS keeps its scams page at uscis.gov/scams. USCIS remains the main federal portal for immigration forms and updates.
The State Department's fraud page is posted at travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/fraud.html. Official U.S. government sites end in .gov. That rule is simple.
