Immigration Minister Hussen impersonated in refugee scam

A brash new scam on social media hijacked the identity of Canada's immigration minister to defraud desperate refugees of thousands of dollars.

The fake Facebook profile of Ahmed Hussenspelled his last name with one "s" but used the same photos the minister has on his official Facebook page. The account's informationwas written in Arabic and English.

CBC News was sent a link to the account by Dana Adil, an Iraqi Kurd who is a refugee in Turkey.

A month ago, the 35-year-old started posting his family's story on Twitter and directly contacting reporters and refugee advocates in hopes of getting help with resettlement.

CBC News spoke to Adil with the help of an interpreter over Facebook Messenger video.

Adil said he fled Iraq in January 2016 with his wife,Ghareeba, and their four children after extremists attacked his village near Kirkuk.

"The day before I escaped, 150 ISIS members attacked the village where I was living." Adil said in a cellphone video chat.

"I had to escape because I have two handicapped kids."

Adil said his eldest son, Dastan,12, andyoungest daughter Staesh, 2, were both born blind. He said he andGhareebadon't know the cause of their children's blindness and cannotafford medical care.

Two weeks ago, he said, someone claiming to be the immigration minister sent him a Facebook message in the middle of the night.

"It was 2:00 am. I woke up and saw the message, and I became very, very happy about it," said Adil.

Adil said the person sending the message refused to speak to him over the phonebut communicated with him via textin English.Adildoesn't know English so he hadto send each textmessageto his sister in Iraq to translatethe conversation.

In the texts, the fake minister offered to help Adil get permanent residency in Canada for a price.

"Do you have the necessary requirements? It will cost you 3550$ for your entire family including tickets," reads one of the texts.

When Adil responded by saying that that he didn't have the money, the fraudsterreplied:"I can't help you without money because immigration costs money Canada has rules."

It's not known when the fake profile was posted on Facebookor how long it was up. After CBC News messaged the person behind the fake profile, the account was deleted.Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada(IRCC)would not confirmit's investigating the fake profile, saying only that it "cannot comment on the specifics of an investigation."

Canadian immigration officials say this is the first time they've seen scam artists impersonate a federal cabinet minister. In the past,scammerspretended to be immigration consultants affiliated with the federalgovernment and tried to lure refugees into paying for false guarantees of immigration.

Last August, following an increase in such scamsoperatingoverseas, IRCCsent a web notice to its embassies in Turkey and Lebanon to warnpotentialvictims about similar schemes making the rounds onFacebookandWhatsApp.

The realAhmedHussensaid he's troubled by the idea of his identity being used by scam artists.

"I must condemnin the strongest terms the people who would target these vulnerable individuals," said the minister.

Hussensaid that Canada has tools in place tocombat fraud and that serious cases will be passed on to theRCMPand the Canada Border Services Agency for investigation.

Michael Casasola, a senior resettlement officer with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),said most refugees are vulnerable because they don't understand the immigration process.

UNHCR is trying to educate refugees through counselling and signage at itsrefugee offices.

Casasola said that when you walk into any of the UNHCR's overseas offices, you see signs and posters explaining there is no fee for resettlement.

Neither the UNHCRnor the Canadian government gather data on how many refugees fall prey to these schemes. Both say they will work with law enforcement agencies to stop the perpetrators. Casasolasaid that because these scams play out online,it's difficult to make arrests because officials typically don't know where the criminals are based.

"The person who may be committing the scam may not even be in the country where the refugee is located in. And so again, it's [a question of]who's got responsibility for looking into it," he said.

In the end, Adil didn't fall for the scam because he couldn't afford to pay up. But the family's future remains in limbo.

Their UN refugee subsidy pays for a cramped apartment in Ankara, Turkey. Thechildren can attend school,but the Turkish government rarely grants refugees citizenship.More than 3.5 million refugees are in Turkey nowand most of them live in cities,where they compete for scarce menial jobs.Adilsaid he can't find work.

He said that, for as long as he can remember,he's lived under a cloud of violence and uncertainty. He seeks a different life for his children one which lets them live up to their potential.

"I'm 35.I'venever knowna safe life only conflict, war and struggle. I want to go somewhere to be safe and build a future for my family."

After speaking to CBC News, Adil asked if telling his story would improve his family's chances of getting to Canada. The odds are stacked against him. To get to Canada,Adil has to find private sponsors willing to financially support him, or be referred by the UNHCR or another refugee agency to the Canadian government. The United Nations tends to refer onlythe most vulnerable cases.

There are more than 25 million refugees in the world.

IRCC projects that Canada will accept approximately 30,000 government or privately sponsored refugees this year.

Watch Judy Trinh'sfull report:

Immigration scam revealed

6 years ago

Duration 2:27

Judy Trinh reports on a scam that used Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen's identity to try to defraud would-be refugees out of thousands of dollars.