Beware of a new scam, experienced by our clients and confirmed to have occurred by the American Immigration Lawyers Association to employees of other Indian companies. Callers, posing as officers of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), claim that USCIS has found problems or discrepancies in the person’s immigration files and ask for personal information. Do not share any personal or petition data with anyone, as it can be used to get more of your personal information from USCIS or potentially to create false immigration documents in your name. The caller knows the person’s name, address, and that the person has applied for an H-1B visa in the United States. At this time we do not know if this is confined to employees of Indian companies only.
The scam gets worse. The caller tells the H-1B applicant that USCIS charges a penalty for such discrepancies and tells them to send money, via Western Union, to a certain address. Note that USCIS will not call an H-1B applicant and demand information or money over the phone. It will communicate, normally in writing, with the attorney of record. If there is no attorney of record, it will normally communicate with the petitioner (applicant company) also in writing. If anyone calls, no one should respond to the questions, instead get the person’s name and phone number and tell them you will call them back. Then report it to your attorney or local authorities (FBI, Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection).