Federal and state authorities on Thursday arrested 20 people who were engaged in a scheme to extort money from immigrants by impersonating immigration officials, and threatening them with arrest or deportation unless they pay a fine.
The arrests are connected to an indictment brought in Texas that lists charges against 61 entities and people, including five call centers located in the U.S. and India.
Justice Department officials said the call center scheme was aimed at tricking “frightened individuals” into thinking they would be deported or arrested. One scheme included telling people they would be deported within 24 hours if they didn’t pay up, and others involved telling people they owed back taxes that had to be paid immediately.
The scammers were able to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from people this way.
Homeland Security Inspector General John Roth told reporters that the scammers “exploited the immigrants’ fears of deportation.”
Officials said the scammers seemed to target Indians and others from southeast Asia, but said they targeted anyone they deemed to be vulnerable.
The investigation and arrests were organized by entities within the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, and involved search warrants in eight U.S. states.
Officials reminded people that the federal government never calls anyone directly to demand that money be paid immediately to avoid arrest or deportation, and said people should report those calls to law enforcement authorities.
