Several scams have been targeting foreign nationals. In September, USCIS warned the public of a new telephone scam that targets USCIS customers. The scammer poses as a USCIS official and requests personal information such as Social Security number, passport number, or A-number, identifies supposed issues in the recipient’s immigration records, and asks for payment to correct these records. According to USCIS, it never asks for any form of payment or personal information over the phone. If you believe you may have been targeted by this scam, you can report it to the Federal Trade Commission at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/. More recently, the IRS warns of a scam involving IRS Form W-SBEN (Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding. Fraudsters are targeting non-residents of the U.S. and are using the W-8BEN format to obtain personal data.
