The Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) department of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Texas has issued a warning about a new phone scam. Threat actors have been impersonating special agents at the San Antonio HSI to engage members of the public in the malicious campaign. The victims are informed that a problem with their passport has been discovered. The fake agent then threatens them with arrest unless they make a payment to the HSI.
Officials with the San Antonio ICE said in a scam warning published November 4 that the scammers say the passport is linked to a crime and scare the caller by threatening to dispatch police to their home to arrest them. The fraudsters have devised a method of convincing the victim that the call is coming from the HSI San Antonio main phone number, 210-979-4500.
HSI is a directorate of ICE and the primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It is responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, particularly those perpetrated by criminal organizations that take advantage of the global infrastructure that facilitates international trade, travel, and finance. HSI's overseas presence is DHS's largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of US law enforcement's largest foreign footprints.
“HSI special agents and local police do not call people on the phone to warn them they are about to be arrested,” said HSI officials. “Agents neither request financial information, such as bank account and credit card account information, nor demand money from someone to dismiss an investigation or remove an arrest warrant.”
"If you receive a threatening call or message from the number, do not give the person any personal or financial information, try to collect any contact information from the caller, end the conversation immediately if threats and intimidation persist, report the incident to the ICE tip line at 1 (866) 347-2423," added HSI officials.
International students studying in the United States on student visas were informed in July by ICE officials in Virginia that their phone number was being faked to fool them into making fraudulent payments and disclosing sensitive personal information. Scammers behind the campaign demanded Bitcoin payments from international students, a currency that the federal government does not recognize.
