Potential students allege visa scam tied to education consultancy

Future Care Consultants told aggrieved students their financial and visa stress was an issue between them and the agent they were connected. (Supplied) The ABC has heard from four international students who say they were misled by a consultancy advertising education and migration advice, allegations which the company denies. Future Care says it stopped using the agent upon becoming aware of their conduct, reported them, and has not benefited from lost funds. An immigration lawyer says education agents, unlike migration agents, are not sufficiently regulated. Link copiedShareShare articleAspiring university students say they have been lured into paying thousands for fraudulent advice on studying abroad in Australia from a company advertising "experienced education and migration agents". The clients say Future Care allocated an agent to handle their student visas, but that person charged them fees for time and applications that failed by design. Future Care Consultants' website says its "team consists of Experienced Migration Agents (MARA) and Qualified Education Agent Counsellors (QEAC), facilitating international students who wish to study overseas". In Australia, migration agents, unlike education agents, must be registered with the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA). But the OMARA said it had no registered migration agents associated with Future Care. The Future Care website offering "experienced" education and migration agents. (Future Care) When asked about this, Future Care clarified it was an education consultancy and "does not itself provide migration advice or act as a registered migration agent". "Where migration assistance is required, students are referred to independent registered migration agents who engage directly with the client," it said. According to the federal education department, education agents, "unless they are also registered migration agents, cannot lawfully provide visa advice or assist with visa applications". Email chains shared with the ABC show Future Care assisted with visas, as well as assuring clients that one of their agents would manage their cases. Miftah Ud Din was told his visa was being taken care of by various people at Future Care Consultants. (ABC News) Students paid thousands of dollars directly to the man, Omer Bin Rasheed, for their applications, insurance and visa appeal proceedings. But when some of those applications failed due to Australian authorities not receiving the application fees from Mr Rasheed, students say Future Care "disowned" the agent, and told the students the matter was between them and Mr Rasheed as they "chose to pay him directly". Future Care told the ABC that Mr Rasheed was an individual "unrelated" to the company, despite the phone number he uses being advertised directly on the company's promotional material as far back as 2022. The students conversed with Mr Rasheed using a WhatsApp number advertised by Future Care Consultants. (Facebook) Miftah Ud Din said he came to Australia in 2023 to "explore the world" and had worked as an Uber driver and in security before his now-job as a solar panel technician in Launceston, Tasmania. But things went downhill when the 28-year-old wished to further his studies and approached an agent who was working for Future Care Consultants, who gave him preliminary, free advice on university courses. Miftah Ud Din said he has not been able to reclaim lost funds, feeling "there is a law of jungle". (ABC News: Mackenzie Archer) Then, Mr Ud Din said Future Care's business manager, Shabeel Nawab, initiated a group WhatsApp call with that agent — Omer Bin Rasheed — and "officially allocated [Mr Rasheed] my case". Shabeel Nawab, a director at Future Care. (Supplied) Mr Ud Din then followed what, at the time, seemed like innocuous guidance. An exchange between Omer Bin Rasheed and Miftah Ud Din. (ABC News: Paul Yeomans) "As someone coming from any other country, we are not aware of how those things go, so I wanted to go with someone who is professional," Mr Ud Din said. "They've got a lot of positive reviews on Google, so I had no doubt that I was making the [right] choice," he said. After the group call, Mr Ud Din said a different representative from Future Care Consultants named Rabia contacted him, saying she was processing his application. An email from a Future Care employee said they would fill out the visa application for Mr Ud Din. (ABC News: Paul Yeomans) "He [Mr Rasheed] said don't do anything otherwise there can be issues, and rest assured your visa will be filed by her before Monday evening," Mr Ud Din said. In an email chain provided to the ABC, Future Care's employee Rabia writes to Mr Ud Din saying she has filled out his application. "If everything is accurate, please provide confirmation to proceed by replying to this email," she wrote. Future Care denied handling student visas and said "Ms Rabia did not provide migration advice and was n

Potential students allege visa scam tied to education consultancy

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