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The Weekly Dispatch
Community-powered immigration news from the Bay Area.
Welcome to El Tímpano’s Weekly Dispatch. I’m Erica Hellerstein, senior immigration, labor, and economics reporter.
At the end of last week, an immigrant woman living in the East Bay reached out to our team with an urgent question.
She was worried she might be the victim of fraud. She had received a large, last-minute bill of $500 from an attorney she’d been in contact with about her immigration case. The attorney told her she would soon have a virtual hearing—a fact she had not been made aware of—and said the money was needed before the scheduled meeting. Much of their communication had taken place on WhatsApp.
Both the size of the payment and the sudden notice of a hearing set off alarm bells. The woman wondered whether the person she was speaking with was a lawyer at all, or instead a scammer posing as one. It wouldn’t be the first time: in recent months, reports have proliferated of fraudsters posing as licensed attorneys, preying on immigrants’ fears to extract money under the guise of providing legal help.
We are still looking into this case, so we can’t yet say conclusively whether the person the woman contacted was a scammer. But her fears reflect a real and growing problem. While scams targeting immigrants have long existed, they appear to be intensifying as the Trump administration escalates its immigration crackdown. With ICE raids and mass deportations on the rise, immigrants urgently seeking legal support are being taken advantage of by bad actors, including here in the Bay Area. These fraudsters exploit real fear and uncertainty for profit, leaving people in both legal and financial peril.
Schemes on the rise
In August, the American Bar Association warned of a “sharp” increase in immigration-related scams, often involving “individuals fraudulently posing as immigration attorneys, falsely stating they work for reputable legal services organizations, or that they have special relationships with government officials.”
State officials are sounding the alarm as well. In June, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a consumer alert warning immigrant communities about scams, followed in September by guidance for those seeking legal assistance. “Immigration scams prey on the hopes of safety and stability of our immigrant communities,” Bonta said.
As fraud alerts circulate, members of El Tímpano’s SMS community have reached out to our editorial team with questions about where, and how, to find legitimate legal support. One subscriber, based in San Francisco, sought advice about an attorney handling a family member’s asylum case. Another asked how to verify the credentials of a lawyer in contact with her husband. (The answer: To practice law in California, an attorney must be licensed by the State Bar. You can confirm a license by searching a lawyer’s name or bar number here.)
Technology has made these scams more elaborate and harder to detect. Scammers have staged fake virtual court hearings, complete with actors dressed up as judges. Victims are often lured in through social media, where fake attorneys advertise their services. Some claim to work for the American Bar Association; others steal real lawyers’ credentials, using their names and bar numbers to appear legitimate.
That tactic makes the fraud far more difficult to uncover. One of the most common pieces of advice for avoiding scams is to verify an attorney’s license. But if scammers are using the information of actual licensed attorneys, even that safeguard becomes unreliable. For example, the woman who contacted us about being potentially scammed shared the name of the alleged attorney she had been communicating with. The State Bar of California’s search tool showed that a person with the same name is licensed in California to practice law. It could have been a legitimate attorney. It could also have been a scammer who stole a legitimate attorney’s credentials.
The consequences of falling for these schemes can be dramatic and life-altering: thousands of dollars squandered, and even the loss of immigration cases. One victim in New York received a deportation order after skipping out on the in-person court hearings for his asylum case—at the advice of his fake attorney.
Reports of these schemes are also surfacing in the Bay Area. Last month, a San Francisco–based notary was fined $600,000 for falsely presenting himself as an attorney and defrauding hundreds of immigrants. And just this week, Telemundo reported on a Honduran immigrant living in the Bay Area who appears to have fallen victim to a scam involving fake virtual court hearings and hundreds of dollars in supposed legal fees sent via Zelle.
Barbara Ferry, a staff attorney with the San Francisco-based law firm Fellom & Solorio, which specializes in immigration law, told me she has heard accounts of scammers posing as lawyers on TikTok and staging fake court hearings in which they pretend to have obtained bond for detainees. They then contact detainees’ family members, asking them to send thousands of dollars through Venmo or Zelle to post bond.
“I don’t know of legitimate lawyers who are just posting on TikTok and collecting money on Venmo,” Ferry said. “But I know that people are so desperate and so vulnerable that unfortunately, they’re falling for it, and they’re losing big amounts of money.”
Resource of the Week
With ICE raids and mass deportations on the rise, scammers are taking advantage of people seeking legal support for immigration cases, as well as in a variety of other realms.
We created a resource guide featuring tips from the Federal Trade Commission about how to identify and avoid housing, job and text message scams, as well as what to do if you believe you’re a victim of a scam.
Do you know someone who could benefit from this information? Share it with them and let them know they can text us any questions at (510) 800-8305.
Plus, El Tímpano’s nationally recognized disinformation defense workshops equip Spanish-speaking immigrants to combat the spread of dis- and misinformation. If your organization serves Latino immigrants in the Bay Area, reach out to hola@eltimpano.org to discuss bringing this workshop to your community.
How to protect yourself
State officials urge people to exercise caution when seeking immigration legal support. California’s consumer alert lists several do’s and dont’s, in English and Spanish, for finding reputable immigration attorneys. The American Lawyers Association and the American Bar Association have also published guidance for people seeking immigration help, including resources for victims of scams.
The American Bar Association recommends using the Immigration Advocates Network and the American Immigration Lawyers Association to search for qualified attorneys. The California Attorney General’s Office also recommends finding free or low-cost legal aid through LawHelpCA.org.
Victims of immigration scams can report incidents to the Federal Trade Commission, the California Department of Justice, or their local District Attorney. Complaints against attorneys can be filed with the California State Bar or the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
A spokesperson for the Oakland City Attorney’s Office told me the office has not prosecuted any immigration scams since a high-profile 2013 case involving a fake consulting company. If someone has a complaint they would like the City Attorney’s office to investigate, they can contact the Office’s Neighborhood Law Corps by email at LawCorps@oaklandcityattorney.org or by calling (510) 238-6628.
If you have a story or tip to share about immigration legal fraud, please contact me at ehellerstein@eltimpano.org.
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading, we will see you next week.
— Erica Hellerstein
Ear to the Ground
El Tímpano’s text messaging (SMS) service reaches more than 6,000 Spanish-speaking immigrants across the Bay Area. Since the election, members of our SMS community have shared questions with us about where to find legal support from licensed attorneys. Here are a few of their responses:
I need help from a lawyer. The lawyer I have just filed my asylum application on May 22, 2025. He had my papers since July 8, 2024, so I could appeal my oldest son’s deportation order, but he didn’t do it.
Necesito ayuda de un abogado. El abogado que tengo recién puso mi asilo el 22 de mayo de 2025. Él tuvo mis papeles desde el 8 de julio de 2024 para que pudiera apelar la orden de deportación de mi hijo mayor y no lo hizo.
—Oakland resident
I’m getting messages from lawyers who tell me I can obtain legal status through my son, who’s a 21-year-old U.S. citizen. But I’ve consulted with several lawyers who only charge me $200 for a consultation. The truth is, sometimes with the raids, it’s really scary to go out, and it feels like it’s a lifeline.
A mí me están mandando mensajes de abogados que me dicen que sí puedo arreglar por medio de un hijo que tengo ciudadano de 21 años. Pero he consultado con varios abogados que solo me cobran $200 de consulta. La verdad es que a veces, con las redadas, da mucho miedo salir y se siente como que eso es una tabla de salvación.
—Stockton resident
I’m very worried about the raids. I’m afraid to go out. I’ve heard about a protection being granted by lawyers. Could you please tell me if it’s true and what we can do about it?
Yo estoy muy preocupada por todo lo de las redadas. Tengo mucho miedo de salir. He escuchado de un amparo que dan los abogados. ¿Podrían informar si es verdad y qué podemos hacer sobre esto?
—Berkeley resident
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