The fact that artificial intelligence can be used for good and bad is a fight many are facing \u2014 and it\u2019s become a major headache for an immigration lawyer and migrants in South Florida.<\/p>\n
Prominent attorney \u00c1ngel Leal says criminals are creating fake videos using his image, voice and name to convince immigrants to pay for supposed legal services.<\/p>\n
“This vulnerable population is being hurt in this fashion in my name,” he said. “And that\u2019s what\u2019s most distressing to me and really what\u2019s got me at my wits\u2019 end.”<\/p>\n
His identity has been impersonated across multiple social media profiles. In these manipulated videos, a fake version of the lawyer urges people to contact him via WhatsApp to get help with immigration paperwork.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey hook you with the fake video. You watch it, ask for more information, they send you to a WhatsApp number, and through that number they talk to the person and ask for money via Zelle, Venmo, or one of those platforms,\u201d Leal said.<\/p>\n
The fraudulent content is designed to lure people in vulnerable situations. Some videos play on urgency, for example, suggesting you must act quickly if a family member has been detained. Others include fake testimonials in which supposed clients claim they obtained immigration benefits for low amounts.<\/p>\n
On top of that, the scammers make promises that can\u2019t be kept. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019ve been deported, $1,500 so you can come back. If you\u2019ve been in the country a certain amount of time, I\u2019ll get you a work permit,\u201d the attorney said, also warning that the videos even show people who appear to be ICE agents or police officers.<\/p>\n
Leal described those responsible as criminals taking advantage of a vulnerable community. <\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing perfectly well they\u2019re people who will be afraid to go to the authorities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The impact of these scams goes beyond financial losses. According to the attorney, some victims end up with deportation orders without having filed any real paperwork, believing their case was in progress.<\/p>\n
To confront the problem, Leal hired a company that specializes in fighting digital piracy. According to its data, since March, 6,454 fake profiles linked to these scams have been taken down.<\/p>\n
The attorney also said he is cooperating with federal investigations and has reported the cases to local authorities.<\/p>\n
As a preventive measure, he recommends always verifying information directly with the attorney\u2019s office before handing over money or sharing personal data.<\/p>\n
Fraud experts also advise against paying via Zelle, Venmo or Cash App for legal services. Instead, they suggest using credit cards, which offer greater protection by allowing you to dispute charges in the event of fraud.<\/p>\n
This story was translated from Spanish with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool. An NBC6 editor reviewed the translation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The fact that artificial intelligence can be used for good and bad is a fight many are facing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,2033,5854],"class_list":["post-299563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-only-on-6","tag-scams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}