Most people who help students go abroad are honest. The few who are not do enormous damage, and they tend to target first-generation families who have no one else to ask. You do not need legal training to protect yourself. You need seven habits and a phone.
Two cases to keep in mind
In 2023 Canadian border officials found that hundreds of Indian students had entered the country on study permits supported by fake college admission letters. The letters came from a consultancy in Jalandhar. The students only discovered the fraud years later, when they applied for permanent residence and officials checked the original documents. Canada set up a task force; by January 2024 it had reviewed 108 cases, found 67 students to be genuine victims and 40 not, and gave temporary permits of up to three years to 34 people who were already facing removal. Since 1 December 2023 every Canadian college must verify each letter of acceptance in the immigration department’s portal before a study permit is processed.
Closer to home, in July 2026 the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Chandigarh ordered an immigration consultancy and a former employee to refund ₹12,35,000 to a 21-year-old student, with 9 per cent interest from the date of each payment and ₹20,000 for harassment and costs. She had paid for a Canadian study visa, tuition and a bank certificate. The Canadian college confirmed it had no record of her admission. The consultancy had never issued receipts.
Both cases turned on the same thing: a letter nobody checked.
Seven warning signs
1. They promise what nobody can promise
No agent decides a visa or an admission. Anyone who promises either, or who uses words like “confirmed” before the university has spoken, is selling confidence they do not have.
2. They want cash, or money into a personal account
The Jalandhar consultancy took fees in cash and signed no contracts. The Chandigarh firm gave no receipts. Tuition and deposits go to the university’s bank account, shown on the university’s own website. Visa fees go to the government portal. Anything else needs a receipt with a company name and tax number.
3. The offer letter cannot be checked
A real offer letter carries a student ID, a course code, start and end dates, the fee, and a contact in the admissions office. If the agent will not let you contact the university directly, or asks you to wait until “after payment”, stop.
4. One college, pushed hard
If every conversation steers you to a single institution, especially one you have never heard of, ask why. A sound shortlist has options at different costs. A counsellor who cannot explain why a course fits your marks and budget is not counselling.
5. They want your passport, your logins or your signature on blank forms
You should hold your own passport, create your own university and visa accounts, and read every form before you sign it. An agent who fills forms “to save you time” may be filling them with information you would never write.
6. A “package” price that bundles tuition
Bundles hide what each part costs and who receives it. Ask for a line-by-line list: university fee, visa fee, health surcharge, test fee, service fee if any. Pay each one to the right party yourself.
7. Side promises of jobs, PR or “arrangements” with the visa officer
Study visas are for study. A promise of fixed work hours, permanent residence or a friendly official is either a lie or an invitation to commit fraud. Either way, it is you who carries the consequence.
How to verify an offer letter with the university
- Find the university’s official website yourself through a search engine, not through a link the agent sent. Check the domain carefully; look-alike addresses are common.
- Email the international admissions office at the address on that site. Give your full name, date of birth and the student ID on the letter, and ask them to confirm the offer, the course and the start date.
- Ask for a login to the university’s own applicant portal in your name. A genuine applicant always has one.
- Check the institution is on the official list for its country: the UK register of licensed student sponsors, Canada’s list of designated learning institutions, or for medicine the NMC’s notices.
- For the UK, check the CAS details against the offer: name, passport number, course title, dates and fees paid. A single mismatch delays a visa; a fabrication ends it.
- Keep every reply as a PDF. Paper protects you later.
What a real counsellor never asks for
- Cash, or payment to an individual’s account.
- Your passport to “hold”.
- Your email or portal passwords.
- A signature on a blank or incomplete form.
- Tuition paid through them rather than to the university.
- Edited bank statements or fake employment letters.
- Any answer for a visa interview that is not true.
An honest counsellor will tell you, in writing and before anything starts, exactly what you will pay, to whom, and when. If that answer is vague, or changes from one call to the next, that is your answer.
Where to complain in India
Act quickly and in this order.
Call the National Consumer Helpline on 1915 (also 1800-11-4000). It records your grievance and forwards it to the company. Many disputes end here.
File a consumer complaint on e-Jagriti, the Department of Consumer Affairs’ online platform, which replaced e-Daakhil. You can file, pay the fee, upload evidence and attend hearings online. Under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 and the 2021 jurisdiction rules, a District Commission hears claims where you paid up to ₹50 lakh; a State Commission hears claims between ₹50 lakh and ₹2 crore. “Deficiency in service” and “unfair trade practice” are the grounds the Chandigarh commission used.
Report a crime to the police. Fake documents and taking money by deceit are offences under the criminal law. File a written complaint at your local police station and insist on an acknowledgement.
For online payments, call 1930, the national cybercrime helpline, and report at the cybercrime portal. Speed matters for freezing transfers.
Bring the same file to each: receipts, chats, the letter you were given, and the university’s reply saying it is not genuine.
A simple rule for the whole journey
Nothing you cannot verify is real, and everything real can be verified in a week. If someone asks you to hurry past that week, that is the sign.
What to do next
If you have an offer letter or a quote in hand and want a second pair of eyes before you pay, Start your application. Bihar Scholars’ guidance is free for students, and we are happy to put that in writing.