Lorry Posted April 18, 2014 Report Posted April 18, 2014 I got a mail from my employer regarding a ongoing fraud. The mail goes this way Hello all, We have received the below notification from our attorney and we want to pass it on to you to be aware of those calls. Hello Friends, 1PM – I got a call from 911 on my cell. I picked up the phone but the voice quality was not good. So I hang up. Another call immediately followed, and I did the same due to poor quality. My office desk phone rang up next… from 911 and my colleague picked up the phone and he was told to hand it over to me. Sgt. Kevin (don’t remember the exact name) wanted to have a word with me in private. I walked out of office and he called on my cell again. This time voice was stern... “How can you disconnect a phone from US Marshalls’ office? Don’t ever do it again. It took us a while to track you but you are under continuous surveillance now. You have provided wrong information to USCIS and there has been an arrest warrant in your name” I asked them what did I miss, I don’t think I have done any mistake. He said I have not filled A-Number while filling I-94 at the port of entry. He asked me to continuously stay on phone. And do not put the phone on mute or hold or don’t dare to disconnect. I was told to reach home immediately and talk to USCIS to solve the matter over the phone itself. “As you are under surveillance for 2 days, you are instructed in your best interest to switch off all electronic devices as they interfere with surveillance system.” Concluded with this warning. 1:30PM – I got a call from the number 1 800 375 5283. The guy said “Hi, How can I help you…this is USCIS my id is xxxx…..wait a minute I see this call has been forwarded by 911…that means there is something serious…let me check your status. What is your social security number?” I provided. Then he started giving me my details…can you confirm your address is xyz..? I said yes. For identity check…can you tell me when did you enter US? Then he asked me to turn on my laptop and go to USCIS site. He asked me to search for “Contact Us”. A number came up. He said “Match this number with what is appearing on your mobile” I matched, it was the same number that was there. Then he started a lot of questions and gave lot of information. He also informed me about Alien number and that it is used to track the criminal activity of every alien (outsider). After almost 35-40 mins of grilling, he said I appear to be honest and he understands it just a human error. He will connect me to higher officer who will take final call on quashing my arrest order. Around 3 PM – a senior official came on the phone, he heard my story and said in a calming voice “Mr Prakash, I see you are well educated person and you have absolutely no criminal record in your US stays…I understand it was an error…don’t panic…let me see what I can do” he then said that my case has been sent to Indian Embassy asking for further records…it will take two days. I can’t work until then as my status will show up as “Illegal immigrant” I have to be online so that he can see whether he can get some temporary relief for me. After few minutes he mentioned that I have to immediately go out of US and re-enter to get my A-Number stamped on my Visa. I asked him can’t it be done while I am in US by visiting Indian or US Embassy? He asked me to submit a security deposit of $4,500 and a penalty of $300. A person from local police department will come to collect the funds along with an immigration officer and they will give me vouchers of $4,500 which can be encashed at any bank once my case gets resolved. I agreed. He then asked me to hold so that he can connect me to finance department who will guide the next step…a confirmation from them will be received by him and he will dispatch a team of officers to my resident. 4PM – Finance guy appeared, asked me to narrate the case, and then asked me to buy paypal reloadit cards from Stop and Shop. I tried at couple of shops and eventually got the cards. He asked me to provide all the numbers and told me not to share the receipt with police officer coming to collect it. 6PM – I was asked to wait for confirmation mail and police officials. I mustered some strength and tried to search on google about Alien number. It appeared as mandatory for permanent residents only. I thought it was a case of mistaken identity from USCIS. Then I searched USCIS site…information was same. I searched the paypal or Valpak card on USCIS….and there was a message of “Fraud Alert”. 7PM – I immediately called up 911. I narrated my story. They said “911 or US Marshalls never call anyone”. They dispatched one officer to my residence and advised me to do whatever I can online to stop the payments if I can. It was too late. I tried doing all sort of things. This Valpak card doesn’t even have a customer service number to address this kind of situation. Police officer came to my office, he said as there is no trace, he can’t be of much help...however he will register my report. He also advised me to share my experience with everyone so that people are aware of these kinds of calls. I lost virtually everything that I had in my bank accounts…but want to share few things I learnt – Police department never calls you from 911. USCIS contact numbers are for you to contact them not vice versa None of the Govt departments ask for your personal information None of the Govt departments ask you to pay through other mediums except when you appear their office in person More than half of your “Private” information is already in “Public domain” Caller id spoofing is on rise these days. Do not panic by looking at the number. Call the credit rating agencies and put a fraud alert on your SSN if you unfortunately become a victim. As the mail is getting longer, I have not included all those conversations how they won my trust that they are genuine people. Had it happened to someone else, I would have couple of wisdom points to share. However, the guys were extremely smart and they did their homework extremely well. Please be careful. They were continuously with me for more than 5 hours on phone and didn’t allow me to mute or disconnect the call or open the laptop. The police officer also mentioned that I am 3rd person in last 7-10 days getting scammed in similar manner. Other incidents were slightly different, but again some govt number was spoofed. Non-US citizens are more prone to such things as they get panicked easily as to what they may have missed. After receiving information of your home country they try to scam there as well citing you are in trouble here.
siru Posted April 18, 2014 Report Posted April 18, 2014 chaduvukunna vallu..etla nammutaru? I dont understand, how can people be so stupid.
karthik5591 Posted April 18, 2014 Report Posted April 18, 2014 papam oka bhayya ki yevado uscis ani cheppi oka 4500$ bokka pettadu.... last lo vallu chepedhi enti ante....uscis and 911 doesn't call to ur phone...they will only contact u through mails...please dont share ur ssn and other details over phone ani
Spartan Posted April 18, 2014 Report Posted April 18, 2014 Short and simple ga cheppu bhayya evadaina call chesi personal info ssn money deposits adugute ivvodu..no matter form wehre the call is coming from..
bio Posted April 18, 2014 Report Posted April 18, 2014 chaduvukunna vallu..etla nammutaru? I dont understand, how can people be so stupid. so true, uscis vaallu money paks enduku adugutharu?? atleast akkadanna doubt ravalsindi athaniki, endo ee janalu..
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