We alerted the H-1B community last year about fraud scam calls coming from 911 number. Please read it and spread the word to your friends that they will never get a call from 911 or from USCIS asking to pay money through money cards purchased in gas stations.
The following is one more scam incident that happened recently posted on our H1B Wiki Facebook Fan page .
This happened to someone .. Be alert guys…
Nov, 2013
1 PM – I got a call from 911 on my cell. I picked up the phone but the voice quality was not good. So I hang up. Another call immediately followed, and I did the same due to poor quality. My office desk phone rang up next… from 911 and my colleague picked up the phone and he was told to hand it over to me. Sgt. Kevin (don’t remember the exact name) wanted to have a word with me in private. I walked out of office and he called on my cell again. This time voice was stern… “How can you disconnect a phone from US Marshalls’ office? Don’t ever do it again. It took us a while to track you but you are under continuous surveillance now. You have provided wrong information to USCIS and there has been an arrest warrant in your name” I asked them what did I miss, I don’t think I have done any mistake.
He said I have not filled A-Number while filling I-94 at the port of entry. He asked me to continuously stay on phone. And do not put the phone on mute or hold or don’t dare to disconnect. I was told to reach home immediately and talk to USCIS to solve the matter over the phone itself. “As you are under surveillance for 2 days, you are instructed in your best interest to switch off all electronic devices as they interfere with surveillance system.” Concluded with this warning.
1:30 PM – I got a call from the number 1 800 375 5283. The guy said “Hi, How can I help you…this is USCIS my id is xxxx…..wait a minute I see this call has been forwarded by 911…that means there is something serious…let me check your status. What is your social security number?” I provided. Then he started giving me my details…can you confirm your address is xyz..? I said yes. For identity check…can you tell me when did you enter US? Then he asked me to turn on my laptop and go to USCIS site. He asked me to search for “Contact Us”. A number came up. He said “Match this number with what is appearing on your mobile” I matched, it was the same number that was there. Then he started a lot of questions and gave lot of information.
He also informed me about Alien number and that it is used to track the criminal activity of every alien (outsider). After almost 35-40 mins of grilling, he said I appear to be honest and he understands it just a human error. He will connect me to higher officer who will take final call on quashing my arrest order.
Around 3 PM – a senior official came on the phone, he heard my story and said in a calming voice “Mr Prakash, I see you are well educated person and you have absolutely no criminal record in your US stays…I understand it was an error…don’t panic…let me see what I can do” he then said that my case has been sent to Indian Embassy asking for further records…it will take two days. I can’t work until then as my status will show up as “Illegal immigrant” I have to be online so that he can see whether he can get some temporary relief for me. After few minutes he mentioned that I have to immediately go out of US and re-enter to get my A-Number stamped on my Visa. I asked him can’t it be done while I am in US by visiting Indian or US Embassy? He asked me to submit a security deposit of $4,500 and a penalty of $300.
A person from local police department will come to collect the funds along with an immigration officer and they will give me vouchers of $4,500 which can be encashed at any bank once my case gets resolved. I agreed. He then asked me to hold so that he can connect me to finance department who will guide the next step…a confirmation from them will be received by him and he will dispatch a team of officers to my resident.
4 PM – Finance guy appeared, asked me to narrate the case, and then asked me to buy paypal reloadit cards from Stop and Shop. I tried at couple of shops and eventually got the cards. He asked me to provide all the numbers and told me not to share the receipt with police officer coming to collect it.
6 PM – I was asked to wait for confirmation mail and police officials. I mustered some strength and tried to search on google about Alien number. It appeared as mandatory for permanent residents only. I thought it was a case of mistaken identity from USCIS. Then I searched USCIS site…information was same. I searched the paypal or Valpak card on USCIS….and there was a message of “Fraud Alert”.
7 PM – I immediately called up 911. I narrated my story. They said “911 or US Marshalls never call anyone”. They dispatched one officer to my residence and advised me to do whatever I can online to stop the payments if I can. It was too late. I tried doing all sort of things. This Valpak card doesn’t even have a customer service number to address this kind of situation. Police officer came to my office, he said as there is no trace, he can’t be of much help…however he will register my report. He also advised me to share my experience with everyone so that people are aware of these kinds of calls.
I lost virtually everything that I had in my bank accounts…but want to share few things I learnt –
- Police department never calls you from 911.
- USCIS contact numbers are for you to contact them not vice versa
- None of the Govt departments ask for your personal information
- None of the Govt departments ask you to pay through other mediums except when you appear their office in person
- More than half of your “Private” information is already in “Public domain”
- Caller id spoofing is on rise these days. Do not panic by looking at the number.
- Call the credit rating agencies and put a fraud alert on your SSN if you unfortunately become a victim.
As the mail is getting longer, I have not included all those conversations how they won my trust that they are genuine people. Had it happened to someone else, I would have couple of wisdom points to share. However, the guys were extremely smart and they did their homework extremely well. Please be careful. They were continuously with me for more than 5 hours on phone and didn’t allow me to mute or disconnect the call or open the laptop.
The police officer also mentioned that I am 3rd person in last 7-10 days getting scammed in similar manner. Other incidents were slightly different, but again some govt number was spoofed. Non-US citizens are more prone to such things as they get panicked easily as to what they may have missed. After receiving information of your home country they try to scam there as well citing you are in trouble here.
I had exactly same call today…and ended up with loosing $400 they request $2000 but i had only $400 at that point.. …i did not provided any SSN or bank details..Somehow saved but lost $400..Its big fraud.They targeting immigratents..Be aware…
I also got the same call yesterday from number 202-241-0527. he said there is 5 allegation on me related to form 18 which i have not filled. which is needed to filled when you are sending money outside USA.and he connected me IRS head and meanwhile 911 keep calling me to arrest me.i got panicked after seeing 911 and agreed to pay but in the process he kept me on call ask me not to mute/hold. he asked me buy gov bond from Walgreen and then he will tell me after that what need to do. Meanwhile my husband alert me that it may be fraud call. so i disconnected the call and call back to 911. they said that they havent call me.and also i call to nearest police station they also denied it. so with the grace of God i got alerted at correct time.but still handling the shock which i got…:(
Nash • a few seconds ago
Hi everyone, i have applied for h1b this year ang got selected on April 28 after a week or 2 I received a call from Washington as follows:
(I already knew about this fraud/scam call I had read enough to deal with it)
Caller: Hello, I am calling from federal department how are you doing.
Me: I am good, how are you.
Caller: I am good, as I can see that you had applied for h1b. Which visa are you on?
Me: we’ll sir its a mistake, I am a student.
Caller: oh student, I am sorry to bother you, I may have wrong info.
Me: no problem, have a nice day.
Since then I get call from same number till date every day.
Same thing happened to me yesterday(Guys asked that i have not updated Alien Number on I-94) and fortunately i did not get reload cards from anywhere and god saved me.I got so scared initially.They asked me not to involve any 3 rd party and do not use any electronic device.They infact told me not to talk to your family otherwise they would panic.When i did not get Prepaid reload cards(Green dot money back and Pay Power Reload IT cards as per there instructions) the they told me that they are going to call me next morning.I searched on internet and found this wiki by which i got to know that this is a scam call.I decided to call 911 and in morning when i received the call from those guys again then i told them i m infront of Police and then they disconnected the call.This happened when i updated my profile on Naukri.com i guess.Some company called RPM consultant visited my profile and when i searched jobs for there company on Naukri.com then there is not a single job for this company and i guess they got all the information from my profile.Later i called 911 and they told me call legistative departmet (Fraud department) however they said they cannot trace them and i should spread this info among my firneds so that this would not happen with anybody else.Guys please beaware.I was so scared initially.
People don’t understand the basic idea behind H1B. The
notion that it is your responsibility to maintain H1B status is wrong. H1 is an
agreement between the government and employer that allows you to work for the
employer because the skill they need is not available locally. So if someone
calls you and tell you your status is having issue, by law it’s not your responsibility,
politely ask them to take the issue up with the employer because he brought you
here and it’s their responsibility to keep things in order, and if there is a
problem with employers representation then the employee does not really owe
anything, he can just dust his pants and go back to his country of origin
without paying a single penny or incrimination (remember you were “INVITED” to
the country by the government and employer in need). Having said that the
culture of self-sponsoring H1B through consulting companies by some people have
led to the notion that H1B is the employees responsibility… who is to blame ?
People don’t understand the basic idea behind H1B. The notion that it is your responsibility to maintain H1B status is wrong. H1 is an agreement between the government and employer that allows you to work for the employer because the skill they need is not available locally. So if someone calls you and tell you your status is having issue, by law it’s not you fucking responsibility, politely ask them to take the issue up with the employer because he brought you here and it’s their responsibility to keep things in order, and if there is a problem with employers representation then the employee does not really owe anything, he can just dust his pants and go back to his country of origin without paying a single penny or incrimination (remember you were “INVITED” to the country by the government and employer in need). Having said that the culture of self-sponsoring H1B through consulting companies by some people have led to the notion that H1B is the employees responsibility… who is to blame ?
Hello Everyone, I wanted to share my experience on this
subject.
I received a call this week from 911. I kid you not. The number
showed up as 911. The person at the other end identified himself as a police sergeant
from my local police station. I could
not catch his name.
Here’s how the conversation went
Me: Hello
Fake Police Sergeant: This is Sergeant from your local police
department. Is this Mr. XYZ
Me: Yes
Fake Police Sergeant: This is an urgent matter. Where are
you currently?
Me: In my office
Fake Police Sergeant: Can you go to a place where no one can
hear you? This is a very serious matter.
Me: Ok.
Fake Police Sergeant: You are in trouble. The American
consulate in your home country of India has asked to deport you.
Me: Why? What did I do?
Fake Police Sergeant: Do you have your visa documents with
you?
Me: I just told you I’m at my office.
Fake Police Sergeant: You don’t realize the trouble you are
in. How long will take you to get to your home?
Me: If I’m in trouble why don’t you send me a legal notice
instead of talking on the phone.
Fake Police Sergeant hung up the phone.
Few things to note:
1)
Law enforcement agencies usually do not contact
you over phone. If you are really getting deported Feds will knock on your door
or if there are unpaid traffic tickets you will get a notice in mail.
2)
There seemed to be something off about the
accent of this Fake Police Sergeant. He was talking like an Indian who developed
an American accent. Half way thru the call this douche bag’s accent was showing
up. Most of us are in a panic mode and don’t pay attention to such details
3)
File an incident report at your local police
station. This type of crime is mostly a federal matter. If more of us bring
this to feds notice they will track these douche bags and nail them.
Few years ago there was a social engineering attack on tech companies
in my region. Stuff like random people calling you and asking for some name and
then trying to figure out other details. Everyone in my company underwent a
training and that’s what helped me in this situation.
Hi same thing happend with me…any chance of getting money back?
Great Information….
http://www.nareshgolla.com
Based on this, and the massive outsourcing body-shop fraud, I think the U.S. should just ban India completely from H-1B.
Then who will take up the high-skilled jobs in the USA? You certainly don’t seem good enough…lols
okay… you stay at your home in India, because I doubt if anyone else thinks the way you are (only stupids can!)
You have to find the solution to the problem, not to burn roots of the cause.
are you the Dunkin donuts jealous guy who gets to wash the windows and pack the bagel and not get tipped as well? these days its IRS>
Mostly the same guys called me on Monday evening. I did not believe them. The following is the transcript I have submitted to FTC.
FTC complaint:
Person (naming himself Davis) contacted me claiming to be a USCIS agent. The caller Id showed 8003755283. He then wanted to prove that this was a authentic call and asked me to visit uscis.gov . Scrolled down the webpage and the contact number matched the callerId. This made me suspicious. He then said that I am in violation of my alien registration. The American embassy in New delhi has issued an order to deport me. He now asked what my intention was about this order.I acted concerned. I mentioned I would like to resolve this and asked for the pending charge. He then mentioned that it was in the order of $1900 to avoid the deportation. He realized that I was not scared enough and went on to remind me that I am in violation of Federal laws and I would be penalised. That I would be arrested immediately and placed in a jail for 25 days and soon after deported. Then he wanted to conference in the FBI and tell them that I am in violation and need to be deported. So he added me to the conference and I could hear music. At this point I started recording the conversation using another phone. I have the audio for the last 5 minutes of this conversation. After that another person claiming to be FBI agent Freeman picked up the phone and exchanged greetings with agent Davis. I asked them if we could work out something here. They threatened me again and said that the FBI agents would arrive at my home shortly and pick me up.He told me that I am a dumb person etc and that I am from India based on my voice and that I must be arrested. He realized I was not taking this seriously and asked how long I lived in the US. I did not reveal this and said that I would like the CIA involved into this conversation(at this point I am sure its a scam). Meanwhile my son and wife realized something funny was going on and started laughing. The impostor probably heard this. He then starts to use foul language and I hung up.
This is true friends. One if my friends got the same kind of call from people pretending to be IRS guys. She was almost about to pay.
i too got the same call. but i disconnected soon as they asked me to pay through wester money transfer.
Nonsense, just a stupid rumour.
THIS IS NOT RUMOR IF ANY BODY SAYS RUMOR THEN I DOUBT WHY HE SAYS SO…
one of my friend got same call this week and she was tricked same way 🙁
I have come across a situation recently that happened to me. I have recently got a call from IRS department saying that I was supposed to pay fine for the tax filing that was done improperly (according to the person on phone its Kevin). He gave me a Case Number that is related to me and started speaking saying that “This call me monitored by Depart of Home land Security, IRS and USCIS”. Please don’t hang the call or interrupt while he was speaking and everything is being recorded. The interesting thing is I figured out it was some indian guy but as we all know, every body gets tensed and we don’t pay much attention to that (which I would say our general human nature, no offense) he was saying that i have not filed my tax returns properly and hence I was issued an arrest warrant and Officer will be coming here. I asked him did you give me any notice with regards to your case. He said we have sent you mails and you should have received them. I mentioned that i have not received a single letter regarding this case. Then he said let me verify your identity and asked my name. I told my first name. I was hearing some background voices that depict some customer service kind of thing, lot of people saying they are calling from IRS.I was skeptical on that because its really didn’t make a sense for me to hear other voices. Why would i hear other people’s taking about personal information. That was my first hunch on the call. I immediately hoped on to google and searched for this info. there we go on the IRS website they clearly mentioned that this scam was started some time in 2012 and people are making money transfers when they are asked.
I completely read the article and understood these points. I also verified their authenticity with my tax assistant
1. Government will never call over phone and discuss your personal information.
2. They always send notice or documentation through mail and we could call the customer care to verify after we get any documentation if they have ever sent that to us.
3. No one will ask us to pay through western Union or any kind of payment modes. Government always takes Cashiers Cheque even though if its $1.00 that you have to pay to them.
4. They clearly give time to the applicant to understand the case if it exists. No body will ask you to pay right now or within 24 hours.
Try to ask some friends when you hear such kind of calls and search for them in internet.
Tell the person calling you on phone that you are busy and send any communication that you wanted to convey through mail as you should have the address on file.
Thank you so much for other people who shared their experiences on this. BTW the person said he would call me again the next day as I told him I am busy and he never called.
Thanks to this Forum I knew this already when I received similar call. I cross questioned the so called officer and he got real mad at me. He finally hung up 😉 as my questions were very straight forward. So my call started like this – Officer – Hello, is this XYZ
– Me – Yes
o – I am calling from the local police station my name if O. Kevin
me – okay, how can I help you officer
o – USCIS has filed a case against you for fraud. you have done some unlawful activities in USA. They have issued a deportation case against you. I am calling you to warn you.
me – oh I see. But officer I am very sure that I have not done anything unlawful in USA.
o – USCIS has filed a case on certain proofs against you.
me – can I ask you what are the charges?
o – Don’t be extra smart, just confirm your name
me – confirmed
o – tell me your address
me – but officer, you must have my address already, right?
o – (angrily) you are acting too smart… sscjkdsfcdkjv is your address, right?
me – may be (hehe)
o – you know what go to your home and I am going to send my officer to arrest you now
me – but officer I am at my job and I cannot leave, can you please send the officer at my office address?
o – it will be embarrassing for you to get arrested in front of your colleagues.
me – officer, it will be embarrassing for me if I get arrested, the place won’t matter. Please send the officer at my work place
o – how long it takes for you to go to your work place from your home
me – you must have my work place address, right? then why don’t you figure that out yourself?
o – you are too smart, now I am going to make your life very difficult. Just watch out, now you are in deep trouble. I will make sure that your life becomes hell. I will deport you myself. (hung up)
me- laughing hysterically…
This dude was definitely Indian (definitely South Indian – no offense) could figure it out from his accent. Please beware of such scumbags.
Best!!!! Great job by answering jerk this way!…. Hope people learn from this and reply in same manner if they receive fake calls like this.