Indian student in US becomes victim of digital arrest scam, loses $5,000 to scammers posing as ICE officers: Here's what happened

An Indian student named Shreya Bedi, who is on a student visa in the United States has been the victim of a digital arrest scam. Scammers posing as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers called her on May 29 and blamed her for breaking immiration laws. They then pressured her to buy $5,000 worth of gift cards as "bond" payments to avoid arrest and deportation.

Bedi, who came to the United States from India on an F-1 visa in 2022 to pursue a Master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction at Indiana University Bloomington, told Newsweek that she was 'terrified.'

"I was absolutely terrified and crying the entire time…He gave me his name and badge number and told me to verify his office details by going to ice.gov and looking up the office in Maryland. I could confirm it was the same phone number he was calling from,," Bedi said.

The scammers told Bedi that her phone was being monitored and she could not call anyone. A second scammer called posing to be from the Olympia Police Department saying that there was a warrant for her arrest.

"I felt completely trapped because they kept me on the phone for three hours straight, repeatedly warning me that hanging up or contacting anyone would violate my case and make things worse. I was too scared to risk it,” she said.

ICE spokesperson spoke to Newsweek and condemned the incident. "ICE strongly condemns the impersonation of its officers or agents. This action is not only dangerous, but illegal. Imposters can be charged with various criminal offenses both at the state/local level, as well as federally (under 18 USC 912),” an unnamed ICE spokesperson said.