‘Felt utterly trapped’: Indian pupil scammed in US by imposters who posed as ICE officers, instructed her she can be deported
Shreya Bedi, an Indian pupil, was deceived by scammers who posed as immigration officers who instructed her that she was violating immigration legal guidelines. The imposters pressured her into buying $5000 price of present playing cards as ‘bond’ funds to keep away from arrest and deportation. Bedi got here to the US on an F-1 visa in 2022 to pursue a Grasp’s diploma in Human-Laptop Interplay at Indiana College Bloomington, Newsweek reported. Bedi mentioned she obtained a cellphone name on Could 29 through which the scammers who posed as ICE brokers instructed her that she was violating immigration legal guidelines and can be arrested and deported. “He gave me his identify and badge quantity and instructed me to confirm his workplace particulars by going to ice.gov and looking out up the workplace in Maryland. I may affirm it was the identical cellphone quantity he was calling from,” Bedi mentioned.The scammers instructed Bedi that her cellphone was being monitored and she or he couldn’t name anybody. A second scammer known as posing to be from the Olympia Police Division saying that there was a warrant for her arrest. “I felt utterly trapped as a result of they stored me on the cellphone for 3 hours straight, repeatedly warning me that hanging up or contacting anybody would violate my case and make issues worse. I used to be too scared to threat it,” Bedi mentioned. The scammers requested her to purchase Apple and Goal present playing cards totaling $5,000 and to share the codes over the cellphone. The scammers instructed her a police officer would acquire the playing cards and bond papers the subsequent day, however that decision by no means got here. “They put me by means of hours of psychological torture, making me consider I used to be going to be deported and arrested,” Bedi mentioned.The scammers knew every thing about her, her port of entry, educational background, which metropolis in India she is from and many others. Bedi is now making an attempt to lift funds on GoFundMe. “You all the time have the appropriate to hold up and name a lawyer, authorities companies virtually by no means name you instantly; they ship official mail,” she mentioned. “No legit authorities company will ever ask for present playing cards, financial institution particulars, or your Social Safety quantity over the cellphone. If somebody asks for any of this stuff, it is positively a rip-off.”“As worldwide college students, we do not absolutely perceive how the system works right here, which makes us simple targets. I really feel embarrassed that I fell for this, however I need others to be taught from my mistake.”
