New scams target families of unaccompanied immigrant children

Authorities are warning the immigrant community of new scams aimed at exploiting and abusing family members of children who recently entered the United States alone.

The scammers demand money from the children's relatives, claiming that the money will cover the administrative and travel expenses necessary for the children to be reunited with their families.

The FBI's San Antonio office uncovered two similar scams in which con artists telephoned their victims, taking advantage of their desperation to retrieve the children.

In one of the fraud schemes, individuals claimed to be representatives of charitable or non-profit organizations and were supposedly assisting with the administrative process and reunification of children with their families.

In another instance, the scammers apparently spoofed a phone number, making it appear to be from a legitimate company in San Antonio (called spoofing) in an attempt to lend credibility to their story.

The scammers demanded payments ranging from US$300 to several thousand dollars. The number of victims and the amount of monetary losses are unknown at this time.

Anyone with information about these scams should call the FBI.

What to do to avoid becoming a victim of this type of fraud

Fraudsters take advantage of crisis situations to catch their victims off guard. Before making any payment or sending money, it is recommended to be cautious, investigate further and follow certain general rules such as the following:

• Do not trust people who identify themselves as officials and ask for payments door-to-door, by phone, mail, email or social networks.
• Do not trust people who ask for payment by wire transfer, or ask for your bank account number or credit cards.
• Verify the legitimacy of government agencies or non-profit associations.
• Call the official phone number of the government agency requesting payments to make sure the request is legitimate.
• Do not respond to questionable e-mails and do not click on links within them. If in doubt, call the agency that claims to be contacting you to confirm that the message is legitimate.
• If you are sent a questionable email asking for payment and it includes a phone number, do not call that number. It is preferable to look for the government agency's official website and verify the number to call there. The management of the government agency websites end in .gov,  such as www.fbi.gov or www.uscis.gov.
• Never give your personal or financial information to anyone requesting payment. Providing such information may compromise your identity and make you vulnerable to identity theft.