The Department of Homeland Security is investigating a sophisticated network of scammers who target people caught in immigration proceedings, defrauding them of their savings and causing some to be deported following a ProPublica Report that complaints of such fraud doubled during President Donald Trump’s second administration.
Homeland Security Investigations, the subagency known for tracking international crimes such as human trafficking, asked about specific cases detailed in the article, including the story of a woman who, fearing Trump’s nationwide immigration operations, enlisted someone she believed could help her maintain her legal status. After the scammers took her money and caused her to miss a court date, she was deported to Nicaragua.
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This is one of thousands of cases in which scammers lured their brands through social media posts and sent them to fake court hearings and other official-looking proceedings, charging large sums along the way. Now the federal government is stepping up efforts to track down these scams, according to sources involved in the investigation.
A DHS statement said the agency is “declaring all-out war” on scammers.
“Immigration fraudsters contribute to a lawless environment, undermining our immigration system and posing risks to national security and public safety,” the statement said.
DHS is searching for URLs, WhatsApp numbers and identifying information on the Zelle payment app that could be traced back to fraudsters, sources familiar with the investigation said. The department’s investigation is intensifying as these scams skyrocket.
ProPublica analyzed Federal Trade Commission data and found that victims and advocates said at least $94.4 million was stolen over five years. The more than 6,200 complaints ranged from bogus Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents demanding personal information and threatening deportation to fraudsters demanding money from international students by exploiting their visa status.
Scammers often pose as lawyers and offer ways to avoid in-person hearings, taking advantage of even legal residents’ anxiety after ICE agents begin rounding people up during immigration proceedings.
Experts say scammers often advertise on sites such as Facebook and TikTok before moving the conversation to the encrypted messaging platform WhatsApp, asking for money in exchange for immigration records that appear real. Sometimes known as “notary fraud,” these scams often rely on a mistranslation of the word “notary,” which implies legal references in many Latin American countries.
In recent weeks, agencies, including New York Department of State, Florida bass And local police departments has issued warnings about these scams. The American Bar Association, which also warned against imitatorshas recently been in contact with DHS investigators.
In South Florida, immigration attorney Angel Leal met with hundreds of AI-generated videos of his image offering help on WhatsApp. His office had to hire an anti-piracy agency to remove the content and more than 6,000 fake profiles, according to local media.
The videos, hundreds of them on Instagram, are surprisingly realistic. “Leal” sits in an office chair, his facial hair and expressions matching those of the real lawyer. The AI-generated character speaks fluent Spanish with enthusiastic hand gestures, a potted plant or mug in the foreground and a law degree behind him. Slight details betray the ruse: certain mouth movements do not match the words, gibberish text appears on documents and objects become confused.
Advocates and law enforcement say targeted people should document all ads, text conversations and payment information. And DHS is warning consumers to be wary of lawyers who advertise directly on social media, operate on WhatsApp, and accept payments through Zelle.
In April, ProPublica spoke with several victims who attended fake hearings via WhatsApp, telling their stories to “agents” wearing fake government uniforms. Spanish speakers are the main targets, experts say, and scammers often claim to be affiliated with prominent advocacy groups such as Catholic Charities USA, which has been inundated with reports of scammers using their brand to find potential brands.
“Contacting people directly through an ad or through WhatsApp and asking for money through Zelle, that’s not something Catholic Charities would ever do,” said Kevin Brennan, vice president of media relations at Catholic Charities USA.
These groups have had difficulty getting fraudulent ads and accounts removed. Even when they do, it’s easy and inexpensive for scammers to create new websites and accounts.
“It’s Whac-a-Mole,” said Charity Anastasio of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, another group whose staff and image have been spoofed.
