Scams that target new immigrants

New arrivals are targeted deliberately: the scripts assume you are unfamiliar with how U.S. agencies behave, and they work on fear. Every one of them collapses against a few fixed rules.

Never

Gift cards, wire transfers, crypto or payment apps to any agency

Always

Hang up and call the number you looked up yourself

If you paid

Report within hours, not days

Reporting

Is not an immigration risk

The rules that never change

1. No U.S. government agency accepts gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency or payment apps. Not the IRS, not USCIS, not the police, not the Social Security Administration. Ever.
2. No agency telephones to threaten arrest or deportation. They write letters.
3. Nobody can "suspend" your Social Security number. It is not a thing that can happen.
4. Caller ID can be faked. A call showing a real government number proves nothing.
5. Real agencies let you hang up, verify and call back. Urgency is the tell.

A sixth rule covers almost everything the first five miss: the request to keep it secret is the fraud. No genuine process asks you not to discuss it with your family, your bank or a lawyer.

The five common approaches

The immigration call. Someone claiming to be from USCIS or ICE says there is a problem with your file and a payment will fix it. Hang up and check your case in your USCIS account.

The notario. In many Latin American countries a notario público is a qualified lawyer. In the United States a notary public is not — they can witness a signature and nothing more. Someone charging to prepare immigration paperwork without being a licensed attorney or a BIA-accredited representative is acting illegally, and their mistakes land on your record, not theirs. A form filed wrongly can prejudice a case for years.

The tax call. The IRS contacts you first by post, always. It does not demand immediate payment by phone. If you genuinely owe money there is a published process with instalment options — see what to do if you owe tax and cannot pay.

The job that costs money. Real employers do not charge for a job, for training, or for a visa. Any "employer" who sends you a cheque and asks you to forward part of it is using you to launder a fraudulent cheque, and the loss will be yours — see finding a job and spotting the scams.

The rental that is too cheap. A listing well below market rate, an owner who is conveniently abroad, and a deposit requested by wire before you can see the property. Never pay for a home you have not entered.

Bank fees are the quieter loss

Fraud is dramatic; fees are steady. Overdraft charges of around $35 a time, monthly maintenance fees, out-of-network ATM charges and cheque-cashing shops taking a percentage of every paycheck add up to more than most scams take.

All of them are avoidable. Credit unions and many online banks charge no monthly fee, most banks waive it on direct deposit, and opting out of overdraft coverage means a card is declined rather than a $35 charge applied. See opening a bank account.

Remittance services are worth comparing the same way. The advertised fee is rarely the real cost — the exchange rate margin usually is, and providers must disclose the total before you send.

Where to report

• Fraud generally — the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov, which also produces an identity theft recovery plan
• Anything involving a bank or lender — the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
• Immigration services fraud — USCIS, and your state attorney general
• Free legal help — legal aid organisations handle consumer fraud as well as immigration, at no cost; see emergency numbers and legal help

If documents or your Social Security number were handed over, treat it as identity theft as well: check your credit reports for accounts you did not open, and read what to do when a Social Security number has been misused.