As ICE arrests increase, so do scammers preying on immigrants who need legal services
Scams tend to follow the news, says Shane Lucado, a Birmingham, Alabama, lawyer and founder of InPerSuit, a website that helps people find lawyers. He adds that immigration-related fraud has picked up in the past year, with individuals posing as lawyers, government officials or agents who can help.
The association has received reports of scammers using its name, logo or office address to promise immigration legal services that are never performed, often charging thousands of dollars, according to an August ABA news alert. In at least two of the reports, victims were recruited through Facebook.
By November, the ABA said there were more than a dozen of these cases documented.
Additionally, the ABA alert noted generally a “sharp increase” in the number of individuals posing as immigration attorneys. And there have been reports of scammers stealing lawyers’ images and information to gain trust.
“Attorneys need to keep tabs on their personal information to see if their identity is being used,” says Adonia R. Simpson, deputy director for policy and pro bono for the ABA Commission on Immigration.
Simpson says the ABA started receiving reports over the summer. Scammers are reaching out to individuals in need of immigration help through social media and WhatsApp, contracting for services, taking money and “ghosting people,” using the ABA branding as a lure, she says.
Adonia R. Simpson (Photo courtesy of the American Bar Association)“Fraud and immigration scams have always happened, but they appear to be getting more sophisticated, trading on a trusted brand,” Simpson says. “The concerning thing is that the people who thought they were getting the help they needed lost money and could be put at risk of detention and deportation.”
Since President Donald Trump took office, his administration has focused on reducing illegal immigration, leading to a climate of fear, immigration lawyers say. As of the first week of August, deportations reached nearly 1,500 per day, the New York Times reported, a pace akin to that under President Barack Obama’s administration.
In addition, the Trump administration increased vetting and expanded screening for student visas.
Kathleen Campbell Walker, a former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, says fraudsters can reach out to their victims by contacting them in person, via phone or text or with promises on social media.
“Immigration has always been a target for those engaged in trying to defraud others because those seeking help are often in particularly desperate situations and willing to take greater risks than normal,” says Walker, chair of Dickinson Wright’s immigration practice group.
The ABA notes that “reputable legal services organizations” will not directly contact individuals to solicit business through social media or WhatsApp. In addition, the ABA says it generally doesn’t charge for legal services.
Guaranteeing success
Scammers posing as lawyers often charge less than legitimate attorneys, says Yakov Spektor, founder of the Law Offices of Spektor, Spektor & Berman, which specializes in immigration legal services.
One common scam involves individuals saying they are notaries, or notario públicos, and representing that they are qualified to give legal advice when, in the U.S., they can’t. In many Latin American countries, notaries are trained to act as lawyers and can prepare certain legal documents, and newcomers may not know how different the role of a notary is in the U.S.
Another common scam involves promises to make it easier to enter and achieve a green card through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, known as the green card lottery, attorneys say.
A red flag, according to Spektor, is when someone offering legal services guarantees success for individuals facing deportation or other immigration-related problems.
“People, especially if they are new to this country, don’t know the difference between an attorney and someone posing as an attorney,” he says. “When family members are in distress, they want hope, and people can prey upon that situation by giving them false hope.”
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