An Indian woman on a student visa in the United States was scammed by impostors posing as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, taking thousands of dollars from her.
This comes amid increased enforcement action under President Donald Trump, with ICE ramping up arrests across the US. Amid all that, there have been reports of scammers posing as ICE officials.
According to a report by Newsweek, Shreya Bedi came to the United States from India on an F-1 visa in 2022 to pursue a Master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction at Indiana University Bloomington.
She got a call from scammers on May 29, convincing her that she was violating immigration laws and pressured her into purchasing $5,000 worth of gift cards as "bond" payments to avoid arrest and deportation.
"I was absolutely terrified and crying the entire time," Bedi, a UI designer, said.
The ICE agent digital arrest scam in the United States
According to the Newsweek report, Shreya Bedi got a phone call on May 29, which disrupted her life and sent her spiralling deeper into a scam operation.
The scammer told her she hadn't reported her immigration number and was violating the country's immigration laws.
{{/usCountry}}The scammer told her she hadn't reported her immigration number and was violating the country's immigration laws.
{{/usCountry}}"He gave me his name and badge number and told me to verify his office details by going to ice.gov and looking up the office in Maryland. I could confirm it was the same phone number he was calling from," Bedi said.
In a typical digital arrest scam fashion, the caller told Bedi that she could not hang up or contact anyone. She was told that her phone was being monitored.
A second scammer called the woman from a spoofed number, claiming to be an officer in the Olympia Police Department. The second caller told her that there was a warrant for her arrest unless ICE confirmed her case was under investigation.
"I felt completely trapped because they kept me on the phone for three hours straight, repeatedly warning me that hanging up or contacting anyone would violate my case and make things worse. I was too scared to risk it,” she said.
The scammers made Bedi buy gift cards worth $5,000 from Target and Apple and instructed her to share the codes over the phone. She was told that a police officer would contact her to collect the cards and bond papers, but that did not happen. On her way home, she felt that she had been scammed and shared her ordeal with a friend, who confirmed similar incidents being reported on social media.
Shreya Bedi is trying to raise funds on GoFundMe and has warned other students not to fall for the trap.
ICE condemned the incident, saying impersonating officials from the agency is not only dangerous but also illegal.
"ICE strongly condemns the impersonation of its officers or agents. This action is not only dangerous, but illegal. Imposters can be charged with various criminal offenses both at the state/local level, as well as federally (under 18 USC 912),” an ICE spokesperson quoted in the report said.