Scam Alert: Fake ICE Agents Calling to Solicit Money, Threaten Deportation

Scammers posing as Immigration and Customs Enforcement are reportedly targeting immigrants, calling them on the telephone and threatening them with deportation if they do not turn over sums of money. . .

Palos Park Police Department Chief Joe Miller told the outlet that an area teacher and professional have been hit with the same phone calls. The phone calls, according to the outlet, demand payment via gift cards or money orders. The caller also reportedly threatens that there is a warrant out for the person’s arrest. . .

Numbers showing up on victims caller IDs are actual DHS numbers, part of a telephone spoofing scam targeting individuals throughout the country. Spoofing is the deliberate falsifying of information transmitted to a caller ID display to disguise an identity. . .

The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General issued an alert about the very same scam in which people were disguising themselves as ICE agents and demanding money. . .

The perpetrators of the scam represent themselves as employees with “U.S. Immigration” or other government entities. They alter caller ID systems to make it appear that the call is coming from the DHS HQ Operator number (202-282-8000) or the DHS Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) number (202-401-1474). The scammers 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 scammers also pose as law enforcement or immigration officials and threaten victims with arrest unless they make payments to the scammers using a variety of methods. The scammers have also emailed victims from email addresses ending in “uscis.org.” Many of the scammers reportedly have pronounced accents.

(Read more from “Scam Alert: Fake ICE Agents Calling to Solicit Money, Threaten Deportation” HERE)

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