On January 30, 2014, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the agency had received several reports of a scam in the past few days.
According to USCIS blog, the agency has learned of a new telephone scam targeting USCIS applicants and petitioners. Scammers are using a technique called “Caller ID spoofing” to display a misleading or inaccurate phone number in a recipient’s Caller ID.
The scammer poses as a USCIS official and requests personal information (such as Social Security number, passport number, or A-number), identifies supposed issues in the recipient’s immigration records, and asks for payment to correct these records. Often, scammers will threaten victims with deportation or other negative consequences if they do not pay.
If you receive a call like that, USCIS urges you to hang up immediately.
USCIS never asks for any form of payment or personal information over the phone. Do not give payment or personal information over the phone to anyone who claims to be a USCIS official. In general, USCIS encourages you to protect your personal information and not to provide details about your immigration application in any public area.
If someone claiming to be from USCIS calls making threats such as deportation and tells you to make a money transfer or go to a store or drug store to purchase a money order, voucher or make some other type of money exchange, payment or withdrawal – do not go along with it – hang up and report it!
If you have been a victim of this telephone scam, please report it to the Federal Trade Commission at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/, or report it to an appropriate state authority. (Visit www.uscis.gov/avoidscams for information on where to report scams in your state.)
Attorneys at I.S. Law Firm have successfully helped many foreign nationals obtain asylum, lawful permanent residency, or citizenship in the United States. To learn more about our services and for consultation, please contact us at 1- +1-703-527-1779 or via e-mail: [email protected].
