Latino Catholics around the diocese are now feeling not only the anxiety of recent immigration crackdowns, but concerns about a scam to take advantage of their precarious situation and steal their money.
The diocese has taken numerous calls from Catholics saying that individuals are texting them, falsely claiming to be working with Catholic Charities attorneys or other immigration lawyers. They attempt to receive immediate payment from them, promising legal assistance that never materializes.
“Faithful (are) sharing that either their neighbors, friends or relatives received a text message saying that it was either Catholic Charities or some other attorney,” said Joel de Loera, diocesan director of Hispanic ministry.
“They know that within the Hispanic population, most are Catholic, and that the Catholic Hispanic population will trust the church. Many times, these individuals are not very tech savvy, are not familiar with how the Internet, social media or messaging works, so they see Catholic Charities (and) automatically assume it’s the Catholic Church. They unfortunately, many times, have fallen into that.”
The scam mirrors a nationwide trend, where Latino Catholics across the country have fallen prey to fraudsters using social media. Many web pages and social media posts feature the names and unauthorized images of legitimate Catholic Charities attorneys.
Diocesan Catholic Charities has been reminding the Hispanic community that they will never solicit individuals for payment or personal information this way.
“Stephen Carattini, our Catholic Charities president and CEO, mentioned that this is not new with scammers posing as immigration attorneys, including Catholic Charities (lawyers),” said de Loera. “He said this has been going on for decades, but now within the last year, this has skyrocketed. What’s new is the amount of scammers out there trying to take advantage of the community.”
De Loera echoes Catholic Charities’ three suggestions:
—Do not engage with the scammer in any method, whether text, social media or otherwise.
—Save each message and report it to Catholic Charities’ legal immigration team, Hogar Immigrant Services – Legal.
—If you have given the scammer any financial information, immediately let your bank and/or credit card company know.
De Loera said that this scam comes amidst many anxiety-ridden calls that his office has received in response to the current immigration crackdown.
“Our office is like a mediator between all of the offices in the diocese and the Hispanic community. People know who we are with the Apostolado Hispano, and so we get calls for whatever need there is out there under the sun,” de Loera said.
He said his office has had to change “business as usual,” and alter what it does to be present to the litany of immigration-related calls.
“We realized early on and during this current administration that we have to spend at least 15 to 20 minutes, sometimes even more of whatever activity we were hosting to just talk about this, just open the floor, just listen to the people,” said de Loera, who emphasized that the faithful are always encouraged to reach out to them with their needs.
“The questions that would come up (include) ‘Where does the church stand on immigration? Is there anything that we can do? Where can we get help?’ They share questions related to immigration, or stories that their neighbor was deported. ‘Now I’m afraid I don’t even know if I want to come to class. Can we offer this in Zoom? Can we just stay home?’ ”
These calls have led his office staff to provide more comfort, reassurance and spiritual solidarity. “ We let them know that the Catholic Church is here for them, that Bishop (Michael ) Burbidge understands, and there are pastors who know what’s going on and that they’re here for the people.”
De Loera recommends that people who have legal needs for their immigration situations actively reach out to diocesan Catholic Charities to see if they have the ability to take their case on.
“They can be proactive to get help from Catholic Charities when it comes to their own immigration situation,” de Loera said.
“Make sure that you’re calling the actual Catholic Charities. We verified these numbers, they are legitimate, these attorneys are real and they can actually help.”
Sorgi is a freelancer in the Philadelphia area.
Find out more
Contact diocesan Catholic Charities’ legal immigration services team, Hogar Immigrant Services – Legal, at 703-534-9805 or ccda.net. Contact the diocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry at 703-841-3891 or arlingtondiocese.org/apostolado-hispano.
