They hoped to fix their immigration status. They got scammed instead
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Set us as preferred In Orange County, an email landed in attorney Sabrina Rivera’s inbox in April, from a Colorado man panicked about the status of his immigration case.He told Rivera that she was his lawyer.But Rivera had never heard his name before, never represented him and had no idea why he thought she had.The man sent screenshots of his text conversations with someone claiming to be Rivera.
Someone was using her name — and her state bar license number — to scam the man into believing she was representing him in his removal proceedings.He had paid the impostor at least $700 since February, he told her.Immigration law scams surged in the past year and a half, since the Trump administration’s crackdown resulted in thousands of new cases flooding the court system, attorneys and immigrant aid groups say.
The area of law has always been ripe for fraud, but the hustles have evolved, getting more sophisticated in the past year.Most recently, scammers have been taking on the identities of practicing attorneys.Some rely on AI to generate realistic-looking attorney photos and websites.
Other scammers take videos and photos from real practicing attorneys and overlay different audio to trick immigrants into sending them money.Bar-licensed attorneys have also tried to fast-track the system, filing invalid for asylum or lawful permanent residency applications for unknowing clients.“It’s really the worst environment that I think anyone in the field has ever seen for taking advantage of people,” said Daniel Sharp, the chief of the Los Angeles County Office of Immigrant Affairs.“Folks are more desperate for services than before.”Alexandra Lozano, who was licensed to practice law in Washington state and had an office in Commerce, surrendered her bar license and closed her law firm in June.
Clients claim she fabricated ...