Local Residents Warned of Immigration Scam
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has issued an alert regarding a new scam being perpetrated against individuals involved in immigration processes. Vishal Chhabria, an immigration attorney with Lavelle Law said those who are working with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are most at risk.
"At a basic level the offenders are using software to spoof phone numbers that appear on the recipient's caller ID to make it look like the call is coming from the Immigration Service," Chhabria said. "The caller then demands some personally identifiable information which exposes the person to identity theft."
The calls are being made to look like they are coming from the DHS OIG hotline number, 1-800-323-8603. The caller identifies themselves as a U.S. immigration employee and then demands the personal information, or in some cases, tells the recipient that they must make a payment to continue the processing of their immigration matter.
The OIG is informing individuals that they should immediately hang up if they get a call of this nature. According to the alert, DHS officials will never threaten an individual or ask for a payment of any sort over the phone. Chhabria further notes that any request for information or payment from the Department of Homeland Security will also be sent via mail on official stationary.
"Obviously most of these individuals are seeking opportunity here in the U.S. and want to be as cooperative as they can," Chhabria said. "There are often language barriers and a lack of procedural understanding so they are very vulnerable to scams of this type."
Chhabria suggests that if someone is unsure of the validity of a request of this nature they should call the USCIS National Customer Service Center at 800-375-5283 to ask if they need to do anything about their case or immigration status, or use myUSCIS to find up-to-date information about their application. Potential scams can be reported to the USCIS webmaster at uscis.webmaster@uscis.dhs.gov.
"Our role as immigration attorneys is to guide individuals safely through what is a very complex process," said Chhabria. "We strongly urge anyone with an immigration request or issue to use a qualified attorney to assist them."
Lavelle Law, Ltd. is located in Palatine with an additional office serving clients in the Chicago Loop. The firm was founded in 1989 as a single attorney practice with an emphasis on tax law. The firm has added more than a dozen practice groups including Estate Planning, Business Law, Banking Law, Litigation, Criminal, Immigration, Divorce and Family Law, Commercial and Residential Real Estate and Law Practice Management. The firm has received numerous awards and commendations for their business success, their commitment to ethics, national recognition for their pro bono services, and multiple acknowledgements of the charitable work they do in the local communities. For more information, visit www.lavellelaw.com or follow Lavelle Law on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.