A group of people in New York were arrested after prosecutors say they posed as attorneys, judges and law enforcement officers to prey on vulnerable people.
7 On Your Side Investigates teamed up with ABC News to show how it's allegedly part of a growing trend of sophisticated scams targeting those in need of help.
There's a lot at stake for the victims.
In some cases it's not just their life savings at stake, it's their citizenship.
An indictment filed in federal court with the Eastern District of New York claims five people pretended to be attorneys and set up a fictious immigration law firm called "CM Bufete De Abogados Consultoria Migratoria" to target Spanish speaking clients on social media.
Prosecutors say they then charged victims "hundreds to thousands of dollars for non existent legal advice" and then held "sham" immigration proceedings online.
Authorities say they had fake judges dress in robes and people wear uniforms to look like they were federal officials.
One victim was ordered deported for not showing up to their actual hearing. That order has since been reversed.
"Basically they have somebody dress up as a judge, you know, black toga, and it's basically a whole studio," said attorney Jorge Rivera.
Rivera isn't part of the New York case, but says he's seen many other cases like it.
"They look real because they're modeled after the real version, so it's very easy to deceive," said Rivera.
ABC News spoke with a mother who says something similar happened to her.
"I feel sad because he's not here," said Edith, who didn't want us to use her last name.
Her partner and the father of her child was detained. Edith said she spent her life savings to hire an attorney she found on social media who turned out to be fake.
Her husband has since been ordered deported.
"In my experience, this is a billion dollar industry that is not only limited to immigration," said Rivera. "It's in basically every arena that they can get their hands on."
The Department of Homeland Security set up a tip line to report impersonators: 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423).
They're also issuing reminders:
- Ice and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) never call out of the blue and demand money
- They never accept payments using gift cards, crypto or wire transfers
- Don't trust Caller ID - scammers can make their phone numbers look real, even if they're not
- Check first if you're unsure about whether a call or email is real
As for the New York Case, three of the four defendants are family members who were arrested at the airport on their way to their home country of Colombia. All four have pleaded not guilty.
Federal officials are still looking for a fifth person suspected of being involved.
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