6 Arrested in Morocco for Forging Schengen Visas
Six people have been arrested in Morocco for being involved in Schengen visa forging activities.
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The six individuals were arrested in Oujda after the authorities received information on the matter from the General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
The General Directorate of Territorial Service said that of the six people, two of them were women and also revealed that they had links with a network involved in the falsification of Schengen visas that facilitated illegal immigration.
Local Moroccan media have said that the arrested individuals forged administrative as well as banking documents. In addition, it was revealed that the authorities seized fake stamps from public administrations, banks, and private companies. Moreover, the police also seized a computer, photos, copies of passport, and identification documents.
Apart from dealing with illegal activities related to Schengen visas, Morocco has also been registering a high number of scam cases.
Previously, atozserwisplus.com reported that the Schengen visa scam cases especially increased in Morocco this year.
In the majority of cases, scammers have been asking those wishing to apply for a Schengen visa to complete their payments by using a credit card. After Schengen visa applicants get convinced to do so, they receive an SMS code validating their payment and then disclose it to the scammer.
After the code is received, the scammer uses it to complete one payment and asks the applicant to make the payment again since the first one did not go through. By using such a ‘trick’, they make applicants do the payment several times and then send then the applicant never hears from them again.
In order to avoid such things from happening, the responsible authorities have advised everyone not to apply for a Schengen visa through intermediaries or disclose their personal information.
The Director of the Interbank Electronic Payment Centre (CMI) of Morocco, Ismail Bellali, just recently warned Moroccans of scammers offering Schengen visa appointments.
“Never share your bank information. Given the appetite of citizens to obtain appointments for Schengen Visa applications from BLS and TLS centres, mercenaries have set up shop and claim to sell nearby appointments. They offer their services on social networks,” Bellali said.
These are not the only cases where Moroccans were subject to scammers. Earlier this year, hundreds of Moroccans who wanted to reach Germany for work-related purposes were reportedly scammed by brokers who offered fake work contracts. Back then, it was reported that the broker that was involved in this case asked those wishing to work in Germany to pay from €1,500 up to €9,000 for a work contract.
