South Florida immigrants looking for legal help are being warned not to trust online ads or unexpected private messages after Catholic Charities Diocese of Palm Beach said scammers have been impersonating the organization and taking money from non-citizens seeking help with residency and citizenship.<\/p>\n
Here’s what to know<\/p>\n
CBS12<\/a> reported that immigrants across South Florida have been approached by people falsely claiming to offer immigration legal services through Catholic Charities and then seeking fees or deposits for assistance that does not exist.<\/p>\n The charity said any outreach trying to recruit clients through Facebook ads or WhatsApp messages is not from the organization and that people should not respond or disengage immediately.<\/p>\n The charity said, “The scammers use the organization’s name and reputation to convince vulnerable immigrants, many navigating an unfamiliar and high-stakes legal process, to hand over personal information and payment.”<\/p>\n More background<\/p>\n Immigration scams can do harm that goes beyond the loss of the money. For families trying to navigate this complicated legal process, having a bank account emptied<\/a> can also cause stress, delays, and other problems with the immigration process itself.<\/p>\n However, the immigration process makes applicants especially vulnerable. They have to share personal details, ID, and financial information to even apply. In the wrong hands, that information is dangerous, especially for victims already dealing with a new language, a new legal system, and anxiety about their future<\/a>.<\/p>\n What can be done?<\/p>\n Catholic Charities said anyone seeking immigration help should use only the organization’s official website<\/a> or its Immigration Legal Services line at 561-345-2003.<\/p>\n The organization is also urging people not to share personal or financial information with anyone claiming to represent the charity through unofficial channels. That includes unsolicited outreach through social media or messaging apps.<\/p>\n As the charity warned, according to CBS 12, “Requests to chat via WhatsApp or provide personal information this way are a major red flag.”<\/p>\n Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Florida immigrants looking for legal help are being warned not to trust online ads or unexpected private…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396700,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[13452,158131,28,30,29,158132,158133,60781,807,158134],"class_list":["post-396699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-catholic-charities","tag-catholic-charities-diocese-of-palm-beach","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-immigration-legal-services","tag-immigration-process","tag-personal-information","tag-south-florida","tag-whatsapp-messages"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396699","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=396699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}