Morocco Dismantles Network That Forged Schengen Visas
The General Directorate of National Security of Morocco said that the network used to forge documents in order to facilitate the illegal movement of people to the European Union, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
According to the Directorate, the country’s police arrested 20 individuals involved in such activities in several cities in the country earlier this month.
Through an official statement, the General Directorate of National Security of Morocco said that the network facilitated the obtaining of Schengen visas illegally in return for money. However, it was not revealed how much a person was asked to pay for a Schengen visa.
In addition to the above-mentioned, the Moroccan authorities explained that the network falsified all documents required to obtain a Schengen visa, including administrative and banking documents. Furthermore, the police seized fake stamps and a large amount of money.
Another six people were arrested in Morocco earlier in August for forging Schengen visas. The six individuals were arrested in the city of Oujda after the Moroccan authorities received information on the matter from the General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance.
According to the General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance, of the total number of people that were arrested during this operation, two of them were women. In addition, it was noted that they had links with a network involved in the falsification of Schengen visas.
The authorities said that the individuals that were arrested forged banking and administrative document. Moreover, the authorities also seized fake stamps from banks, private companies, and public administrations, as well as a computer, copies of passports, identification documents, and photos.
Besides reporting Schengen visa-related illegal activities, the Moroccan authorities have said that the country has also been registering a high number of scam cases.
The scam cases especially increased in Morocco this year. It has been explained that scammers have been asking those interested in applying for a Schengen visa to complete their payments by using a credit card in order to be able to scam them.
After applicants get convinced to use their credit card to conclude their payment, it has been revealed that they receive an SMS code validating their payment, and then the code gets disclosed to the scammer.
As soon as the code is received by the scammer, it is used to complete one payment, and then the scammer asks the applicants to go through the same process once again with the pretext that the first payment did not go through.
To avoid such situations from reoccurring, the authorities have advised that no one applies for a Schengen visa through intermediaries or discloses their personal information.
