ICE impersonators and other scammers are on the rise: How to protect yourself

It was Monday and the lunch rush was in full swing at El Sancho Loco Taqueria in Newbury Park when a customer was spotted wearing a jacket with a label on the back that said “ICE Immigration.”

This wasn’t a real immigration official. This was, says immigrant advocate Primitiva Hernandez, “a blatant attempt to intimidate our community.”

“This is not just cruel,” she said, “it is illegal.”

There have been a growing number of reports of people impersonating Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as well as other scams targeting the immigrant community, says California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta. Bad actors are “capitalizing on the fear” created by the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans, he says.

On Monday, concerned community members alerted 805 UndocuFund, a joint effort of immigrant-serving organizations in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, “expressing deep concern over this act of intimidation,” said Hernandez, the group’s executive director.

Impersonating a federal officer is a crime that is punishable by a fine or imprisonment.

“Let me be clear,” Bonta said in a statement, “[i]f you seek to scam or otherwise take advantage of California’s immigrant communities, you will be held accountable.”

Experts, including Bonta, have shared immigration-related scams and how to protect yourself from them.

Fake ICE agents

If you are approached by a person who claims they’re an immigration official, the best way to confirm that they’re a legitimate federal officer is to ask for identification, according to Bonta’s office. Immigration authorities carry identifying badges and credentials.

How to protect yourself from someone impersonating an ICE official:

• Do not sign anything. Even with legitimate ICE officials, you should always understand what you are signing.
• Do not agree to anything that is not put in writing and in a language you understand.
• You have a constitutional right to remain silent. If you’re asked about your immigration status, where you were born or how you entered the United States, you may remain silent or refuse to answer. This applies even when the ICE agent is legitimate.

Scammers pretending to be ICE or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials may also try to contact you by phone, text, email or on social media.

Immigration officials, however, will only contact you through official government channels (such as your USCIS account) and will not contact you through your personal social media accounts, according to the USCIS website. If you’ve signed up for case alerts by email or phone, always corroborate that information by logging on to your account.

A fake ICE agent on the phone might ask for personal or financial information under the guise that there is an issue with your immigration case, telling you the information is necessary to avoid deportation. Immigration officers will not call asking for personal information or money. ICE agents won’t call to warn you that you’re going to be detained or arrested, according to the attorney general’s office.

• Do not give money or personal information to anyone who calls, texts or emails you claiming there is a problem with your immigration status or documentation.
  
• Do not sign an immigration form that includes incorrect information or blanks. Before you sign any immigration form, be sure that the forms are fully and accurately filled out. If it has incorrect information such as the wrong name, then it’s fake. Don’t let anyone persuade you to lie on a form or sign a blank form.

Fake immigration attorneys

Scammers try to confuse immigrants into thinking they’re an immigration attorney by calling themselves a notario, notary public, accountant or consultant, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

In Latin American countries, a notario or notary public is an attorney or has legal training, but that’s not true in the United States.

You can seek assistance from legitimate legal aid organizations that provide free services to low-income individuals. Search the LawHelpCA.org directory to find an organization near you.

How to protect yourself from the scam:

• Do not hire an immigration consultant or a notary. Only lawyers, accredited representatives and recognized organizations can give you legal advice or represent you in immigration court. Immigration consultants — who may call themselves immigration experts, notarios, notaries public or paralegals — cannot do so, according to Bonta’s office.
• Do not give your original important documents to anyone, unless you see proof that the government requires the original document, according to the FTC.

You can verify whether a lawyer is legitimate by searching for them on the State Bar of California website. By searching for the lawyer, you’ll learn whether their license to practice law is active and find contact information.

Fake websites

There are illegitimate websites that claim to be connected with the ICE website.

They may use names like “U.S. Immigration” and show pictures of American flags or the Statue of Liberty.

If the website doesn’t end in “.gov,” then it’s not a federal government website, according to the FTC.

Another red flag to look out for is whether the site is trying to charge you for forms that are free from the government.

And one more warning: A so-called prank

The San Pablo Police Department, in Contra Costa County, recently notified the community about a blue package labeled “You are being deported” with an image of the American flag in the shape of the United States. Images of the package have circulated on social media.

Inside the package is a scam letter in which “individuals falsely claim to be immigration officials demanding personal information or payment,” the department said.

These packages are referred to as pranks at two places where they’re being sold, the TikTok shop and Beersy. However, they don’t appear to come with paperwork identifying them as fake. Neither company responded to The Times’ request for comment.