FBI Warns of Scam Demanding Students Pay to Fix Their Immigration Status or Else

The FBI is warning of a new scam targeting Middle Eastern students who lawfully reside in the US. Fraudsters are impersonating government officials in an attempt to convince students that there is an issue with their immigration or visa status. To rectify the problem, and avoid prosecution or deportation, a targeted student is asked to pay paperwork processing fees. Scammers are known to take advantage of current events to craft believable cons. This particular scam comes amid efforts by the Trump administration to ramp up the deportation of undocumented immigrants. Students have also faced threats of visa removal in response to participation in pro-Palestine protests on college campuses across the country. Students from Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been targeted in the scam, according to an alert from the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Scammers are impersonating agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Homeland Security In ... Read full article.