FBI warns of ‘scammer’ immigration agents targeting WA foreign students

SEATTLE - International students are now the target of a sophisticated scam across the nation, including Washington. The FBI reported criminal scammers are impersonating government officials, threatening to deport students who are lawfully studying in the U.S. if they don’t pay a fee.

"Scammers always prey on people’s fears. They’re always opportunistic," said Ethan Via, special agent with FBI Seattle. 

Via said the scammers are impersonating agents from the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 

"We’ve seen these scammers are actually spoofing legitimate law enforcement numbers," said Via.

The backstory:

Thieves are calling, texting and emailing international students claiming there was a problem with their visa. Via said the scammers threaten to prosecute or even deport foreign students if they don’t immediately pay a fee.

"And sometimes they route them to a phony website that might look like an official government website. Or often times just say you need to wire money to this bank account or buy cryptocurrency or gift cards and send it to this person," said Via. 

The special agent said for some students, the scheme could seem legit, especially since Via said it’s common for federal agents to contact people for information.

"We do interviews every day. Like all law enforcement investigators, they have to talk to people. That’s how we investigate. But, the government will never ask you to pay money to remedy a situation. That is something they will never do, and we certainly won’t ask you to pay in cryptocurrency or gift cards or immediate wire transfer," said Via.

The FBI said, so far, the scheme is affecting students who are from the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan. Via said those students are likely targeted because thieves assume they come from wealth.

"It costs a lot of money to travel here to study in the United States. So, I think it’s a target-rich environment for them. They assume that they have a lot of money and so maybe they would be more successful in targeting someone who might have access to a lot of funds," said Via.

Big picture view:

Given the current tensions in the Middle East and the immigration raids happening in the U.S., Via said scammers use fear to prey on victims.

"They try to ratchet up that sense of urgency so that you don’t think about what you’re doing and then they just send the money," said Via.

For those foreign students who are contacted, the FBI urged them not to respond. The agency offered tips to help students protect themselves, including:

• Beware of unsolicited communication from someone purporting to be from the government, especially by phone. Verify you are speaking with a government official by hanging up and contacting the office through a third-party-obtained number (eg. web search for legitimate contact information), then asking for the agent or department you were speaking with.
• Verify that the website visited is a secure or encrypted site, as government websites are.
• Repeating top level domains in a URL is a common scam to make a website appear legitimate (e.g. "gov.org" in a URL is a spoof of the .gov top level domain).
• Do not provide information on the phone until you verify the identity of the caller.
• If you believe you are the target of a government impersonation scam targeting foreign students, gather all relevant documentation and contact diplomatic security at your home country's embassy, the FBI, or Bureau of Diplomatic Security at the Department of State.
• Do not give anyone a two-factor authentication code used to log-in to an account or device.
• Do not download files to your phone or computer unless you have verified the source.

"However you got your student visa, reach out to that agency and just double check — ‘Hey, is everything OK with my visa, because I got this?’ And nine times out of 10, they’re going to know that this scam is happening, and they’ll be able to verify that your status is indeed fine," said Via.

What's next:

FBI Seattle said this scheme is happening nationwide, though agents are working to identify possible victims in Washington state. 

Via mentioned government impersonation scams are very high in Washington this year, resulting in $19 million in losses reported so far in 2025. That is more than the $15 million loss reported in total in 2024.

"Bear in mind, these numbers are likely lower than the actual losses, since the numbers are based on complaints received at IC3.gov. There are certainly more victims out there who have not reported it to law enforcement," said Via.

For those who have fallen victim to any cyber scam and have lost money, the FBI said help is available. Via said the sooner the crime is reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3.gov), the better the outcome could be for help. Complaints to IC3.gov should be reported ideally within two to three days if a victim has lost money.

"If we know about it soon enough, we can take steps to reverse those wire transfers and get money back for victims," said Via. "We don’t care where these suspects are located. If we have the information, and we can identify where they are, we are very effective at reaching out to other countries and holding people accountable."

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