Scammers may pretend to represent Catholic Charities Dallas, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, immigration courts or the U.S. Department of State, according to the organization.
The scammers often contact people by phone, text message, email or social media, using official-sounding language to make their claims appear legitimate, the organization said.
These scammers may threaten deportation, arrest or other legal consequences unless a payment is made immediately. Others may promise to speed up an immigration case, guarantee an application will be approved or claim they can provide special access to government officials.
Catholic Charities Dallas emphasized that it never contacts people unexpectedly to demand immediate payment, threaten immigration consequences over the phone or request payment through Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, WhatsApp, gift cards, cryptocurrency or wire transfers.
The nonprofit also said it will never ask for passwords, banking credentials or encourage clients to provide false information on immigration forms, according to the organization.
Anyone who receives a suspicious call, text or email should avoid sharing personal or financial information and should not send money.
Instead, residents should end the conversation and contact authorities or Catholic Charities Dallas directly at 866-233-7500 to verify whether the communication is legitimate.
The FTC advises consumers to report scams at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, while the FBI encourages reporting through its Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.
Federal officials recommend verifying urgent requests independently, avoiding links in unexpected messages and using multifactor authentication for financial and personal accounts.