Trump's Anti-Fraud Crackdown: US Embassy Cancels 2,000 Visa Appointments Made by Bots, Says 'Zero Tolerance for Fixers'

New Delhi: In a significant move, the United States Embassy in India on Thursday cancelled 2,000 visa applications allegedly booked by bots. The Consular Team India in a post on X, stated that it has "identified bvas actors" and affirmed it has "zero tolerance" for such activities.

"Consular Team India identified bad actors who made about 2,000 visa appointments that violated our scheduling policies," the post on X said.

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"Effective immediately, we are cancelling these appointments and suspending the associated accounts' scheduling privileges," it added.

The post further concluded that the Embassy will continue its "anti-fraud efforts." " We have zero tolerance for fraud,” it added.

Following this, the Delhi Police has launched an investigation, after a case was registered on February 27 following a complaint from the US Embassy. The FIR has been filed under Sections 318, 336, and 340 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Section 66(D) of the IT Act. Ongoing raids aim to identify additional individuals involved in this scheme.

The FIR implicates over 30 individuals from regions such as Punjab and Haryana who are allegedly connected to visa fraud activities that occurred between May and August 2024.

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The FIR states that the individuals involved—including visa agents and applicants—colluded to create counterfeit documents like bank statements, educational qualifications, and employment verification to obtain US visas. The US authorities identified 21 instances in which applicants made false statements, assisted by agents and document suppliers.

Investigators discovered that applicants paid between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 15 lakh for these fraudulent services.

The embassy's internal probe traced IP addresses associated with various consultants and vendors, highlighting recurring patterns of deceitful activities across several applications.