Misinformation and fear have long been tools exploited by scammers. Now, as millions of undocumented immigrants across the country brace for Donald Trump's mass deportation operation, immigration lawyers and nonprofits are reporting an "alarming" surge in notario fraud—a scheme in which con artists misuse notary public licenses to deceive immigrants into believing they are licensed to practice law, robbing them of their money and placing them in riskier situations.
Notably, the scams disproportionately target non-English-speaking immigrants who cannot afford to hire a private immigration attorney, according to reports shared with the Latin Times.
Targeting Mixed-Status Families and Employers
"The uptick is really alarming," disclosed Natalia Polukhtin, Vice Chair of the Ethics Committee for the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Polukhtin has witnessed families with mixed immigration status being encouraged to file unnecessary applications, potentially putting their undocumented relatives at risk of deportation proceedings.
Over the past few months, the Arizona-based immigration attorney has also observed a rise in fraudulent service providers targeting employers of undocumented workers.
"My office noticed an increase in inquiries from small-business employers seeking to verify that they can sponsor their undocumented workers," she said. "Apparently, notarios are advising people to submit petitions through their employers," she added, emphasizing that such a legal pathway is "totally unavailable" for workers currently in the U.S. without legal status.
Fear-Based Tactics
Trump, set to assume the presidency on January 20, has pledged to initiate a nationwide deportation operation targeting approximately 11 million undocumented individuals residing in the United States. Recent announcements made by him and his returning border czar Thomas Homan have sent shockwaves through immigrant communities, causing a surge in people "scrambling" to adjust their legal status.
"By transmitting the message that the new administration will imminently target the immigrant population, notarios capitalize on fear and panic and push vulnerable immigrants into rushed and irrational decisions," Polukhtin explained.
In some of the notario fraud cases shared with the Latin Times, victims reported receiving threats of deportation. "I felt like death was upon me, and I could not sleep," said Salvador Oliva, who experienced notario fraud in 2020. His scammer, who was supposed to help his wife with her immigration case, threatened to file a civil lawsuit against his family if he didn't pay more than $10,000.
The Tip of the Iceberg
According to Gina Lough, Directing Attorney of Public Counsel's Immigrants' Rights Project—a nonprofit public interest law firm—the reported cases are just the tip of the iceberg, as victims are usually scammed for months or even years before they realize it.
Such was the case of María, a Mexican domestic abuse survivor who was scammed by an acquaintance who offered to help her apply for a humanitarian visa after she helped authorities arrest her abuser. María, whose last name is being withheld at her request to protect her anonymity, disclosed in an interview with the Latin Times that her scammer robbed her of nearly $100,000 over a 10-year period.
At the time, the single mother was working 14-hour days to pay the fake fees. "I worked in a dry cleaning shop, cleaned houses, and took extra jobs—I even borrowed from a nephew and a sister," she said in Spanish, adding that her scammer pretended to be working with an attorney on her behalf, updating her about the nonexistent case with false documents.
An All-Too-Common Struggle for Justice
María turned to Public Counsel for pro bono legal assistance, where Lough investigated her case and discovered that the scammer had been misusing María's money for personal expenses. With Lough's help, María secured a U Visa, granted to victims of domestic violence.
Yet her pursuit of justice proved to be an uphill battle.
Although María's perpetrator was convicted of grand theft and found liable in a civil lawsuit, he never spent a day in jail or paid María back one dime of restitution—an outcome all too common in notario fraud cases, Lough explained.
"If you can't get justice for a case in which you were robbed of $80,000 to $100,000, that really just shows you, I think, the lack of enforcement and the lack of protection for this type of fraud," Lough said. "Most people that we see are defrauded out of like $2,500, $5,000, you know, and it's very difficult to get an attorney to sue over $5,000. They won't usually do it."
Tips and Red Flags
Immigration experts advise people to always verify the credentials of those offering them legal services. Clients have the right to request signed and dated contracts in their native language and they should receive receipts for any payments made to an attorney, per the Public Counsel.
"If the notario cannot provide a name and a license number for that attorney—run, do not walk," Polukhtin warned. "However, even if the name is provided, do your research. Google that attorney and call his or her office—in many cases, the lawyer is not even aware that his name is used to fraudulently sign up the clients."
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