BBC investigation: British men paid thousands of dollars to pose as fathers of migrant women’s children

British men are paid thousands of dollars to impersonate children of migrant women, according to a BBC investigation.

They receive up to £10,000 (about $12,500) for putting their surname on birth certificates, which enables children to obtain British nationality and empowers mothers a way to home.

The scammers Using Facebook to promote their business and they claim to have helped thousands of women in this way.

Facebook says this kind of content according to their rules it is forbidden.

A survey conducted by the program News night from the BBC found that the scam is taking place in several migrant communities in the UK.

The mechanism consists of a network of agents operating throughout the country and that They’re looking for British men as ‘fake dads’.

Posing as a pregnant woman irregularly in the country, the BBC investigator spoke to the people who provide these services and was able to learn how the system works.

The “Fake Dad” scam

An officer named Thai told the investigator that he had several British men who could act as false fathers and offered him a “complete package” for 11,000 British pounds (about $13,700).

This individual described the process as “very easy” and said he would “do everything possible” to get the boy a British passport.

Thai, who does not appear on Facebook, said he would make amends a convincing story to fool the authorities.

To do this, Thai put the BBC investigator in touch with a Brit named Andrew, who would pose as the father and charge him £8,000 (about $10,000) for the service.

During the meeting, Andrew showed his passport to prove he was a British citizen. He also took selfies with the researcher.

The The BBC paid no money to any of the agents who offer the service of fake father.

When Thai was later asked about his involvement in the plot, he denied committing any crime and said he “knows nothing about it”.

Andrew has not responded to our request for comment.

Another officer calling himself Thi Kim claimed so thousands of pregnant migrant women.

Kim said he could put her in touch with a British man and it would cost “10,000 for the father”, with a compensation of 300 British pounds (almost $400) for her.

“All the men I contacted were born here and have never registered another baby as their own,” Thi Kim told the researcher.

“I know how to handle everything. You don’t have to worry about not having a passport. They will surely give it to you.

Thi Kim did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

The fake father scam has been described as “incredibly extensive” by immigration attorney Ana González. “It’s a very sophisticated method, incredibly difficult to control,” he says.

“In a way, it’s normal proof of how desperate these women are and the incredible situations they want to go through to secure the right to remain in the UK.”

If a migrant woman is in an irregular situation in the United Kingdom and gives birth to a child whose father is a British citizen or a man with permanent residence, baby is automatically British at birth.

Than, the mother can apply for a family visawhich gives you the right to stay in the UK and apply for citizenship in due course.

“This rule is designed to protect children, not to grant visas to women They have no papers,” says González. “It’s not an escape. It shouldn’t be seen that way.”

The BBC was unable to estimate the size of the scam the Ministry of the Interior has not provided any data on the number of cases investigated.

Nor has it published data on the number of visas issued to parents of British children who do not live in the UK.

“Not Once”

They were awarded last year 4,860 family visas for “other dependents”a category that includes those who apply to remain in the United Kingdom as parents of British children.

Intentionally giving false information on a birth certificate it’s a crime.

The Home Office told the BBC it has taken steps to prevent the immigration fraud using false birth certificates.

The ministry indicates that “a Birth certificate alone may not be sufficient proof of paternity”.

In cases where it is necessary to determine this, “additional testing may be requested so that our verifications can be satisfactorily completed.”

Migration lawyer Harjap Bhangal, however, questions whether enough action is being taken:

“It is not an isolated case, there may be thousands… The Ministry of Home Affairs has not noticed anything,” says Bhangal.

That’s what the lawyer says this practice is prevalent in many migrant communitiesincluding those in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Sri Lanka, and has been in use for many years.

Research News night discovered that the illegal practice is being advertised on some Vietnamese Facebook groups for job seekers.

Search for fathers in social networks

We found dozens of posts from accounts boasting their credentials as real fake parents, as well women seeking British men posing as fathers.

One account posted: “I am 4 months pregnant. I urgently need a 25 to 45-year-old mayor.”

“I’m a dad with a red notebook [argot para referirse al pasaporte británico]. If you are pregnant and you don’t have a father, send me a message”, read another.

Meta, the company that owns Facebook, says it does not allow “adoption requests or falsification of birth certificates on the social network” and will continue to remove content that violates its policies.

We spoke to a woman who told us that he had paid £9,000 (more than $11,200) to a man to pose as the father of her child.

“He was 30 years older than me. I heard he had done it with another woman before.”

The woman said she had little contact with the man. They have only seen each other three times, one of which was when they went to the registry office for the birth certificate.

Another woman told us she paid a man £10,000 (more than $12,400) to pose as a father, but the operation didn’t go as expected.

“Just one day after receiving my baby’s birth certificate, I found out he was not a British national. I was going crazy because he had already put his details on the birth certificate. I couldn’t change it.”

The woman has now an unknown as the registered father of your baby and neither she nor her son were allowed to remain in the country.

Harjap Bhangal says the Home Ministry should better investigate visa applications that raise a “red flag”.

“If a child claims to be British and has one British parent and one non-British parent, that should be a perfect argument for a simple request for a DNA test.”

But in DNA testing in the UK is not required register a birth or apply for a child’s UK passport.

Therefore, Bhangal does not believe that many people are being prosecuted for this crime. “That’s why people do it, because they’re not afraid of repercussions.”