This is the somewhat preposterous story that has been partly elucidated by the Ministry of Health and Social Services, with the collaboration of members of the Collège Supérieur de Montréal (CSM).
The establishment in question? The Lyudas Hospital, which, according to internship reports consulted by Radio-Canada, would have hosted interns in medical secretarial work.
It would be in this area of north Montreal, a few steps from the Rivière des Prairies and the real Albert-Prévost Mental Health Hospital, that CSM students would have welcomed patients and made appointments.
On paper, everything seems real. Lyudas Hospital was reportedly founded in 2003 and specializes in gynecology, in vitro fertilization and pediatric services. The establishment has a website, with eye-catching illustrations, and a lot of information that at first glance seems trustworthy.
Even the Google search engine mentions its address and opening hours. And the LinkedIn site, which specializes in professional relations, lists an official from Lyudas Hospital, whom we were unable to reach.
Because in reality, none of this is true.
Following receipt of telephone information, the MSSS did carry out an inspection visit to verify whether or not Lyudas hospital existed. This inspection enabled us to note that there was no building at the address mentioned
explains Noémie Vanheuverzwijn, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS).
” No one knows of the existence of this hospital. »
Quebec was warned by a staff member of the Collège Supérieur de Montréal, the establishment attended by the students guilty of this deception. He also contacted Radio-Canada, claiming that he had not been heard by his management.
The director of the CSM, a subsidized private establishment offering short courses, claims to have communicated proactively
with Quebec and the City of Montreal, to denounce this non-existent entity
from September 2022.
” We then immediately banned [le Lyudas Hospital] and the related courses were immediately cancelled. »
We attach great importance to the validity of these internships, as the integrity of the training we offer and the reputation of the College are at stake. […] which maintains excellent relations with the professional community which continuously employs our graduates to meet its human resources needs
argues Noureddine Hajibi, in a written statement sent to Radio-Canada.
How many fake internships have been done? The establishment claims not to have precise figure to communicate
and swear to do as much as possible
to check that students actually do their internships
.
It was only after a series of questions from Radio-Canada sent to CSM College and Quebec in recent days that Google put an end to the listing of Lyudas Hospital. The site has been suspended.
“This was not done at the request of the MSSS,” points out Noémie Vanheuverzwijn.
Lyudas Hospital claimed to specialize in gynecology. But similar pages have been found on other sites.
Photo: Screenshot
A network of fake sites orchestrated from Africa
Before being suspended, the Lyudas Hospital site had several elements that lead to believe that it was part of a network of fraudulent sites.
In the HTML code of the site, we could see several references to a hospital in Great Britain named Corbyn Hospital
, including a link to its site. This site no longer exists, but several negative reviews found on the web indicate that it is a fake hospital used in a scam for fake job offers.
The supposed photos of Lyudas Hospital that were on his site led us to another fake hospital, Memorial Hospital, this one supposedly located in California and Texas, and whose site is identical to that of Lyudas.
Using the DomainTools analytics tool, we were able to find about 20 other sites associated with Memorial Hospital, including several other fake hospitals, fake law firms, fake banks, and fake businesses. parcel delivery. Another of the sites that are part of this network claims to be able to offer work and study visas for Canada. Its Facebook page indicates that the company is located in Nigeria.
Moreover, a site that lists scams targeting Africans contains several notices about sites that are part of this network. It is explained that these sites steal money from the victims by offering false job offers abroad, in return for payment.
Students from CSM College said they completed their internship at the Pierre-Boucher Health and Social Services Center in Longueuil. Which wasn’t true.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Martin Thibault
Frauds rare
depending on the college
Other foreign students, registered at CSM College, have tried to carry out fictitious internships.
Several fraud attempts have been thwarted by our services
admits the director of the college. We have increased our vigilance and have taken measures to ban certain establishments.
A irregularity
was, for example, discovered with the CISSS de la Montérégie-Est, he confirms.
Two students, according to the health establishment, tried a few months ago to pretend that they had done their training at the Pierre-Boucher hospital. We have received a request for verification from an employee of CSM College, who is no longer employed by them.
says Caroline Doucet, spokesperson for the CISSS.
This specifies that the CISSS has insisted with the college on the importance of validating internship requests
with the Department of University Education and Research as is the case with all establishments
.
However, there was no real intern file from Collège CSM in Pierre-Boucher.
CSM College, for its part, swears to have a rigorous verification process
.
Despite our diligent checks, it is impossible to completely rule out that, among the graduating students of each year, some have managed to escape our supervision and break the rules, continues Noureddine Hajibi. However, such cases would be rare and it is important to emphasize that the CSM in no way condoned, allowed, participated in or favored such a situation.
