New visa scams targeting Middle Eastern college students are on the rise. Here's how to find it
The FBI said new scams targeting cybercriminals in Middle Eastern students are becoming increasingly rampant in the United States. The fraudster is impersonating a government official in an attempt to convince students that there is a problem with their immigration or visa status. To correct the problem and avoid prosecution or deportation, potential victims are required to pay legal, university and paperwork fees.
The scammers are smart and are known to use the current events to create credible shortcomings. The Trump administration’s efforts to increase the deportation of undocumented immigrants is due to this particular scam. Students are also facing threats of visa evacuation in response to the Israel-Hamas war protests participating in university campuses nationwide.
Students from Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have become scams, according to an alert from the FBI's Internet Crime Complaints Center (IC3). Scammers are imitating agents for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Homeland Security Investigation (HSI), or the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). In some cases, the scammers have identified themselves as foreign government officials from Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the UAE embassy Washington.
“They may speak and use an accent and/or language that matches the caller's so-called location,” IC3 said in the alarm. It does not specify how much fraudsters are charged to students. However, victims lost $405 million last year, according to the latest annual fraud report from the FBI.
How to protect yourself from this new scam
The first step to protecting yourself from a scam is to know this. So if you are reading this, you can check the box.
The FBI said you should always be skeptical of any unsolicited government communication. If this happens, first verify the validity of the call or message by finding a phone or email on its website.
You should take the time to analyze any links sent by the scammer. Make sure the link is encrypted using the standard “HTTPS” encryption and the URL is as you expect. For example, the URL should end with “.gov” instead of “gov.org” and should not be a random combination of letters and numbers. That's a transparent red flag.
Finally, do not download files or provide any unsolicited caller two-factor authentication code, the FBI said.
What if I became a victim of this immigration scam?
If you end up paying a scam, you should contact your bank, credit card or credit card company immediately. Your financial institution may be able to cancel transactions in a timely manner or return your money to you.
Regardless of the scam, scammers can ask for payment through cryptocurrency and gift cards. Crypto payments are basically irreversible, but contacting the gift card issuer may result in a refund.
The FBI has asked the public to report any fraudulent or suspicious activity on www.ic3.gov. Reporting a scam to an agency helps it notify the public and assists law enforcement in tracking offenders.
