A new scam is making life even harder for international students in the US, this time, through terrifying phone calls pretending to be from ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).
Several F-1 visa holders are reporting that they’ve received threatening calls claiming their I-94 form wasn’t uploaded properly. The scammer, posing as a US immigration officer, accuses the student of violating visa terms and asks them to pay up immediately or face arrest and deportation.
Some students were so shaken, they almost believed it. And it made it more frightening that the calls seemed to be coming from official numbers.
However, these caller IDs are often spoofed to look like a government number. The “agent” uses legal-sounding terms and even threatens to call the local police, trying to trigger panic and pressure students into paying up, usually through gift cards, cryptocurrency, or wire transfers.
But as many have figured out, ICE, USCIS, or any US government body will never ask you to pay over the phone. They will never threaten you with deportation without formal communication, and they certainly don’t demand gift cards.
What’s worse is that the scammers know just enough about your visa situation to sound believable. That’s what makes this dangerous. Many of these students are far from home, on edge about legal status, and unsure of whom to trust.
It is best to just hang up and report the call to your school’s international office immediately.
