Scammers are stealing thousands of dollars from immigrants by offering fake legal assistance
When she left a comment on the attorney’s profile in April, she had no idea that it would expose her to a scam. She had no idea that her comment on the lawyer’s profile would expose her to a scam when she made it in April. She sent her name, phone number and address to the account. Then, the texts began. Someone claiming that they were a government worker contacted her, and told her she had to pay $525 to continue Ramirez’s case. Ramirez felt trapped, she said. Ramirez was afraid, she said. She didn’t believe a real immigration official was going to message her. Scammers create fake TikTok profiles impersonating immigration attorneys, purchase fraudulent Facebook ads and even arrange fake court hearings through WhatsApp. Algorithmic feedings help them target those seeking information on the immigration process. According to data released by the Federal Trade Commission, impostor scams account for the majority of consumer fraud reports. According to FTC data provided to The Washington Post, the number of immigration-related fraud complaints has more than doubled between 2023 and 2024. Whitaker, Ramirez’s attorney, stated that when people are desperate to protect their families and themselves, they can be more susceptible to scams that promise legal status. “No matter how many reports we make, TikTok doesn’t take action.”
A TikTok spokeswoman said the company has deleted some fake accounts posing as Whitaker.
Desperation is an essential ingredient in financial scams, and many people seeking immigration help on social media are in a dire spot, said Colleen Normile, a managing attorney at Ayuda, which provides services for low-income immigrants. If they are not allowed to stay in the United States, many will lose their jobs, families, health care, and safety. When they engage with online content about the immigration process, algorithmic feeds will serve them more of the same — including ads or posts from fake lawyers.
Immigration lawyers who share information and source clients on TikTok said the platform is plagued by fraud targeting immigrants. Gloria Cardenas is an immigration lawyer who provides legal advice to almost 300,000 people on TikTok. She said that whenever she uploads a video, her social media assistants race to keep up with the scammers. She said that her team sent hundreds of reports about impostor accounts to TikTok, but fraud continued. The TikTok spokeswoman said they’ve deleted some of the fake accounts.
Still, Cardenas has heard from 15 people who lost money to the scammers. She said that there are probably many others who have not reached out. Some thieves even go as far as creating fake immigration courts on WhatsApp and Zoom, where they hold virtual hearings. Whitaker said that one of her clients lost $26,000 in a similar scam. Normile told me she had met a victim who lost $100,000. Emily McCabe is a senior attorney on the American Bar Association Commission on Immigration. She said that the chances of being prosecuted are low for bad actors because many immigrants fear to get involved with the legal system. And social media provides a steady stream of potential targets.
Steve Tobocman, who helped pass one of the first laws targeting this type of fraud during his time in the Michigan state legislature in the early 2000s, said shady legal practitioners have been a problem for immigrant communities for decades. You can still find small businesses using word of mouth to run immigration scams, Tobocman said, but social media lets scammers reach more victims faster.
Why scams go unchecked
TikTok, Instagram and Facebook have policies against impersonation and “inauthentic behavior” including making content with the intent to deceive. But con artists still run rampant on these platforms, according to attorneys and immigration advocates.[after Trump took office]Research indicates that social media companies struggle to identify and take down dangerous posts in languages that aren’t English. Luis Guerra is the director of field engagement for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network. He said that apps could be lagging behind when it comes to enforcing immigration laws because most fraud occurs in Spanish. But Meta and other companies could do far more to review paid ads for signs of fraud, take down impostor accounts and grant verification badges to businesses rather than just public figures, he said.
A Meta spokesman said that scams are an issue across society and that the company removes impostor accounts when they’re reported and fraudulent ads when they’re detected.
Consumer protection laws, meanwhile, often fail to protect the most vulnerable immigrants, Guerra said. CLINIC is advocating for more robust state laws that allow immigrants to report scams without fear of deportation.
Absent a crackdown from social apps and regulators, guarding against immigration fraud often falls to individuals and families, Guerra said. CLINIC, for example, has its own social media channels where they post content that educates viewers on the signs of fraud as well as their rights when dealing with immigration attorneys. Making this content takes valuable time and money, but it is one of the few effective ways to combat the scams, he said.
Ramirez’s story has a relatively happy ending: She called her lawyer’s office and learned that the texts and TikTok messages were fake. Many others aren’t so fortunate.
“These
are people who know how to use social media well,” she said. They know that we are not familiar with technology.
