The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a warning on May 13th regarding a scam targeting foreign students holding F-1 visas.
According to the FBI announcement, scammers are posing as officials from the United States or foreign governments, falsely claiming that students have violated visa regulations, are facing immigration issues, or are at risk of deportation. They then request victims to make payments to an unknown account for handling immigration documents, university registration fees, or legal expenses.
The scammers have already targeted students from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan with these schemes.
FBI revealed that to make the scam more believable, the perpetrators would forge officials’ phone numbers, engage in conversation professionally, and use accents matching the supposed origin they claim to be from.
The FBI stated that at times, scammers would claim to be agents from the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In some instances, they even impersonate foreign government officials.
It was disclosed by the FBI that scammers have posed as diplomats from the UAE Embassy in Washington, D.C., to carry out their fraudulent activities.
The FBI cautioned international students to be wary of contacts claiming to be from the government, particularly through phone calls. If in doubt, students are advised to hang up and contact the relevant agencies through official numbers to verify whether they are truly speaking with government officials.
Furthermore, the FBI warned against providing any personal information to unverified callers, sharing two-factor authentication codes used for account or device logins, or downloading files to phones or computers from unverified sources.
Over the past month, the Trump administration has taken measures against foreign students participating in anti-Semitic protests and pro-Palestinian activities on American campuses, stripping around 5,000 foreign students of their legal status, putting them at risk of deportation.
At the end of April, the federal government also announced plans to broaden the reasons for revoking the legal status of international students.
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This article has been revised and translated for clarity and context.