Potentially fake COS Check website
Many UK work visa applicants search for ways to check if their Certificate of Sponsorship (COS) is genuine. Recently we have came across a website which seems to impersonate Home Office COS checking. If it was a genuine site it would be useful for applicants. However, the COS Check site is a rather suspicious one. We write more about this further below.
Skilled worker visa refusals when fake COS used
Over the recent years we have been contacted by many Skilled Worker visa applicants who were charged exorbitant fees for what proved to be a fake COS number. As a result their skilled worker visas were refused by Home Office due to their COS number not being genuine. In addition to the refusal, they also received 10 years ban.
Unfortunately those applicants found out their COS was fake only after going through the visa application process when Home Office refused their Skilled Worker application with the comment that "COS could not be located in the Home Office records" which means the COS was most likely fake.
The suspicious COS Check website
A website where COS validity could be checked would be of great value to the prospective applicants. However, there are several questions with the https://coscheck.uk/ website claiming to be offering the COS check. When we searched the COS Check website domain records they do not show the name of the entity that registered the website. On the other hand, the genuine Home Office website is registered toUK Cabinet Office. This suggests that the COS check site is most likely not linked to Home Office and it is risky to use it. Potentially it is used to steal data of whoever inputs them on the website.
Major red flag for this suspicious website is the fact that it is trying to look like an official Home Office website, using similar layout, typography, design and graphic elements.The website also tries to mimic the structure of Home Office website with their linked sites. That in itself is a warning signal when a website tries to masquerade as part of an official body website.
They do that despite the fact that the owners of the website have no formal relationship to the Home Office or its databases. Without such access it is difficult to understand how are they able to check validity of the Certificates of Sponsorship issued by the Home Office.
We contacted Home Office regarding the COS Check website
When we contacted Home Office to seek their confirmation as to whether the COS Check website belongs to them the only comment we received from the Home Office business helpdesk was the one we copy below. This Home Office response suggests that the Home Office has their own internal COS checking tool that is not available to the general public.Therefore, it also implies that the COS Check website may be fake and not safe.
:"Thank you for contacting the Business Helpdesk.
Please note the Home Office have there own website for CoS checker that only we can use."
What is more, further down the page website asks for more data, such as application number and passport number of the applicant. That should also raise users level of wariness.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.