Scam artists claiming to work for "U.S. Immigration" are calling victims across the country seeking to steal their personal information and commit identity theft, the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general warned.
The thieves are using a technique called spoofing, where they alter the caller ID so it looks like the call is coming from the Department of Homeland's hotline number (1-800-323-8603).
"The scammers demand to obtain or verify personally identifiable information from their victims through various tactics, including by telling individuals that they are the victims of identity theft," the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General said in its fraud alert Wednesday. It also noted that many of the scammers "reportedly have pronounced accents."
The inspector general said DHS never uses its hotline to make outgoing calls. It only uses the number to receive information from the public. It said individuals shouldn't answer calls from 1-800-323-8603, and if they do, they shouldn't divulge personal information.
Joanne Talbot, a USCIS spokeswoman, recalled a spoofing scam in 2013 in which immigrants applying for visas, green cards and citizenship were targeted. "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," Ferreira wrote in an email.
Talbot also noted that USCIS never asks for any personal information or form of payment over the phone.
Fraudsters have also used phone spoofing to impersonate Internal Revenue Service agents, threatening vulnerable people like immigrants with deportation or the loss of their diver's license if they don't pay what they owe immediately.
"Generally we see an uptick in scams when there is fear in the community," Quinn said. "Any change in policy, even if it's a positive policy change, can increase the number of scams against immigrants and others."
"As scammers seek to capitalize on the anti-immigrant political climate, people should know never to offer payment or personal information over the phone," said Steve Choi, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition. "All official, government requests will come by mail from a verifiable address with a case reference number," he said.