A legal U.S. resident in New York says he lost nearly $5,000 and handed over sensitive personal documents to scammers who used artificial intelligence to impersonate a real immigration attorney, according to an investigation by Eyewitness News 7.
Victor Hernandez, a Dominican immigrant who has lived in the Bronx for more than a decade, said he responded to a social media advertisement promising to help him obtain U.S. citizenship without taking the official exam. After an initial $1,500 payment, the people behind the account repeatedly asked for additional money and documents, including his Social Security and permanent resident cards.
Hernandez ultimately sent $4,820 through Zelle before discovering that the advertisement was fake. "They have all my documents; they can do me a lot of harm," he told Eyewitness News.
The scammers had impersonated Miami immigration attorney Angel Leal, using AI-generated videos based on his appearance. Leal said he has had roughly 8,000 fake-profile videos removed since noticing the scheme last fall and believes people around the country have been targeted.
"It's sophisticated. It's multiple actors. It's overseas. It's AI," Leal said, adding that he reported the identity theft to the Florida Bar.
The case comes amid a broader rise in immigration-related fraud. The Los Angeles Times reported in July that lawyers and immigrant aid groups have seen increasingly sophisticated schemes involving fake attorneys, cloned identities and AI-generated content as demand for legal help has grown during the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
Federal Trade Commission data cited by the Times showed 1,626 immigration-services fraud complaints in 2025, up from 1,315 in 2024 and 623 in 2023. More than 60 Catholic Charities organizations providing immigration legal services have also been impersonated, with the network handling more than 1,000 scam cases in the past year.
Hernandez said the loss has left him behind on rent and electricity bills. He has filed reports with the New York Police Department and federal law enforcement.
