1. Confirm that the programme exists in law
Start with the government or statutory citizenship unit, not a social-media advertisement. Check the legal programme name, qualifying routes and current minimums. If an offer describes a secret citizenship route that does not appear on any official source, treat that absence as a major warning.
2. Verify the authorised agent independently
Where the programme requires licensed agents, locate the firm on the official government list and use contact details from that source to confirm the relationship. A scammer can copy a licence number, website design and staff photograph. Independent contact breaks that impersonation chain.
3. Be suspicious of below-minimum pricing
Governments set qualifying contribution and investment thresholds. An agent who offers citizenship below the legal minimum may be hiding fees, describing a non-qualifying structure or operating illegally. Dominica's regulations, for example, expressly prohibit promotion of investment costs below the prescribed minimum.
4. Guaranteed approval is not credible
No legitimate intermediary can guarantee that independent due diligence will approve a client. Claims that criminal history, sanctions, visa refusals or interviews can be "handled" through connections should end the conversation. Licensing gives an agent authority to submit; it does not give power to decide.
5. Payment instructions deserve their own verification
Large transfers should go only to the government, approved project, escrow or other recipient specified by the official process. Confirm any last-minute bank-account change by a second communication channel. Business-email compromise can redirect legitimate transactions even when the agent itself is real.
6. Fake property can be wrapped in real CBI branding
In programmes with approved real estate, not every hotel, villa or share qualifies. Match the project against the citizenship unit's current approved list and verify the developer entity. A beautiful sales presentation does not create programme approval.
7. Protect passport and financial data
Scammers may seek identity documents even if they never expect to complete an application. Watermark copies where appropriate, use secure upload systems and avoid sending full bank statements or passport scans to unverified messaging accounts. Identity theft can outlast the lost application fee.
8. Slow down when the sales pressure increases
Urgency can be legitimate when a government publishes a real deadline, but the deadline should be independently verifiable. Ask for the regulation or official notice, read the refund terms and confirm the recipient before paying. A genuine programme will still exist after the applicant has taken enough time to verify who is asking for the money.
9. Check the digital identity of everyone in the payment chain
Fraud can occur through a cloned website or compromised email even when the real programme and real adviser both exist. Compare domain names character by character, verify bank details through a telephone number obtained independently and be suspicious of last-minute instructions to send funds to a new jurisdiction or beneficiary. Government and authorised-agent websites should be reached from known official sources rather than paid search ads alone. For a very large transfer, a second-person verification rule is sensible: one person prepares the payment and another confirms the beneficiary against the signed documents. The extra friction is small compared with the difficulty of recovering an international wire sent to a fraudster.
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