this is the transcript of the video posted on Youtube: https://youtu.be/_UHZ4erwMlc
Here is a list of "Acredited Representatives": https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/942311/download
1. Welcome back to my channel “Let’s Talk Money”. Today I would like to talk about immigration scams and how to avoid it.
How many of you know what a scam is?
In simple terms- When someone tries to cheat you out of your money, it is called a scam. If you have other versions of it’s definition, please comment under the video.
2. There are different types of scams.
Some of them are:
· Advance fee fraud. ...
· Lottery, sweepstakes and competition scams. ...
· Dating and romance scams. ...
· Computer hacking. ...
· Online shopping, classified and auction scams. ...
· Banking, credit card and online account scams. ...
· Small business scams. ...
· Job and employment scams
3. One scam against immigrants happens when someone tells you they will help you with immigration, they make you pay, but they don’t give you any help. These scams happen to some people trying to immigrate into the U.S. Immigrants have lost a lot of money – sometimes a few hundred dollars, sometimes even thousands of dollars.
4. But not only can you lose your money in an immigration scam, you also can lose your chance to immigrate legally.
5. Have you heard of notarios? In many countries, a notario is a lawyer. But in the United States, notarios are not lawyers. In fact, they cannot help you with immigration.
Unfortunately, you can find signs in many neighborhoods for notarios who say they can help. But, since they’re not lawyers, they cannot give you legal help with immigration. They might take your money and say they’ll help, but that’s about it. You’ll lose your money, your time, possibly your important papers.
In the United States, only an immigration lawyer or someone called an “accredited representative” can give you legal help with immigration.
Remember that term, “accredited representative.” You might want to write that down.
Be sure the person who is giving you help with immigration is either a lawyer or an accredited representative. These accredited representatives work for organizations that are recognized by the US government. I’ll tell you in a minute how to find a list.
Besides notarios, there are other scams to avoid.
Do not pay for immigration forms. Those forms are free from the government. If a site asks you to pay money for immigration forms, it is a scam.
Get advice from US government websites. When you’re looking for immigration help online, be very careful. A website might look like it comes from the government, but it might be a scam.
Make sure the website address ends with dot-g-o-v.
Again, do not pay a notario for legal advice.
When you’re in the immigration process, there are other ways to help you avoid problems.
Let’s go over that:
Never sign a form that’s blank. You never know what someone else might put in your form. Your signature means you promise that everything in the form is true. If someone – even accidentally – put in something false, your immigration status could be in trouble.
Also: never sign a form that has false information in it.
Do not let anyone keep your original documents…like your passport or birth certificate.
Keep a copy of every document you turn in, and every letter you get from the U.S. government. You will get a receipt when you turn in your forms. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will give it to you. Keep the receipt. You will need it to check on your application.
If you need forms, go to the USCIS. They have all the free immigration forms in one place.
And to find out how the process works, as well as who can help you, start with ftc.gov/immigration. There are resources there in several languages to help you find someone who can help you.
If you or someone you know has paid for immigration help but did not get it, you can file a complaint with the FTC.
The FTC cannot work on your specific case. But the more complaints they get, the better they can investigate these scam artists.
The FTC recently stopped some notarios who were taking money from immigrants. That happened because they got complaints from people just like you. It really can make a difference.
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