Skip to main content

Six Immigration Scams To Avoid--Be Warned and Warn Others

By
Whenever new immigration changes are talked about, those that prey on immigrants come out of the dark corners like cockroaches.  That is exactly what is happening now!  Be on the lookout, be warned, and warn others to avoid immigration-related scams.  Several different types of scams reported recently include:
  • Scammers are targeting people based on foreign-sounding names or based on information gathered about companies hiring many H-1Bs.  The scammers can get a lot of information from various websites, labor condition application listings from the Department of Labor, LinkedIn, social media, and other sources.  Scammers are able to collect information in a variety of ways and use it to convince unwitting victims of their purported authenticity.
  • Scammers claiming to be from the Department of Homeland Security or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.  They call and state that the victim's paperwork has problems and threaten to deport the victim or to send authorities to the person's home if he or she does not cooperate.  They then order the person to go to the nearest convenience store, obtain merchant cards or vouchers for a certain amount of money, and provide the voucher numbers over the phone.  Once the scammers obtain the voucher numbers, they disconnect the call and disappear with the victim's money.
  • Scammers claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service, who state that the victim owes back taxes and ordering them to provide merchant card or voucher numbers, then disappearing with the victim's money.
  • Scammers who use "Caller ID spoofing" to display a telephone number that is not really their own, and that may appear to be from a legitimate government agency.
  • Scammers who send e-mails claiming that the recipient is a Diversity Visa lottery winner and must send in a fee.  The Department of State does not send e-mails to applicants.
  • Scammers who claim faster processing times or guarantee visas, work authorizations, or green cards, for a fee.

Government agencies never conduct business in this manner.  A call demanding money and threatening negative consequences if it's not paid immediately is a scam, and those receiving such calls should hang up immediately and not provide any information.  USCIS notes: "USCIS will not call you to ask for any form of payment over the phone. Don’t give payment over the phone to anyone who claims to be a USCIS official."
Scams can be reported to the Federal Trade Commission at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov.  See also USCIS's scam information page at http://www.uscis.gov/avoidscams to learn where to report scams.  USCIS lists common immigration-related scams at http://www.uscis.gov/avoid-scams/common-scams.  Contact us if you need more information or help in particular cases at 404-816-8611 or at www.immigration.net
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If You Are An Immigrant (even a US Citizen), Here Are 9 Things You Should Know

By
Are you a Naturalized U.S. Citizen, Lawful Permanent Resident, Visa Holder, or an Undocumented Immigrant? We recommend you take the following steps to protect yourself in our current version of America. The last couple of weeks have reminded immigrants, even naturalized U.S. citizens, that they were not born in the United States. Our office has received countless phone calls, emails, and social media messages from people worrying about what their family’s future in the United States holds. Most people want to know what they can do now to protect themselves from what promises to be a wave of anti-immigration activity by the federal government. Trump's Executive Order on Interior Enforcement has some provisions that should make most Americans shiver.  We recommend the following actions for each of the following groups: Naturalized U.S. citizens. In particular if you have a foreign accent, and you are traveling within 100 miles of any US Border (including the oceans...
231 comments
Read more

Seven Reasons Why the Georgia Legislature Should Repeal HB-87

By
Recently the Alabama Attorney General called on the Alabama State Legislature to repeal parts of Alabama's horrid anti-immigration law ( HB 56), because of the "unintended" consequences of the bill (frankly, what happened was not unintended). Because of the similarity between the two laws, Georgia's Speaker of the House, David Ralston was asked whether Georgia Legislature would repeal part or all of HB 87, Georgia own anti-immigration law. HB 87 has caused almost a half a billion dollars in damage to the Georgia economy (along with untold suffering in Georgia's immigrant communities) without any noted or reported positive effect. Speaker Ralston plainly stated that the Georgia Legislature would NOT do anything to repeal HB 87 . While it understandable why a politician would not admit that a pet bill he shepherded and pushed through the state legislature was simply bad law, it is also clear that Speaker Ralston is facing a challenge on his RIGHT in th...
1 comment
Read more

Why is USCIS Taking So Long to Renew DACA Work Permits?

By
If the calls to our office are any indicator, there are thousands of DACA recipients whose work permit applications were filed at least three months prior to expiration, who are still waiting for their renewed work permits.  Without renewed permits, these individuals lose the right to work legally, the right to drive, and may once again accrue unlawful presence. The DHS published a notice in October 2014 advising DACA recipients that they could file their request for extension up to 150 days (5 months) prior to expiration.  As with all things government, very few of the DACA recipients, who tend not to frequent government websites, knew about the memo and many did not file so far before expiration perhaps thinking that extending a work permit was a like extending a drivers license, its is done in a few minutes.  As an experienced immigration lawyer will tell you, the USCIS does nothing quickly, and certainly does not worry that a person may lose their job or their drive...
16 comments
Read more