Digital scammers take advantage of both hope and fear. The Latino community in the United States’ dream of obtaining legal immigration status is becoming bait for criminals thanks to the instant messaging app WhatsApp. This is reported in the second of three parts of the report. WhatsApp as a weapon: How scammers are targeting Latinos in the United Statesof the Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas (DDIA, for its acronym in English).
“Unfortunately, many fraudsters take advantage of the often complicated immigration processes. They use everything from Temporary Protected Status (TPS) deadlines and asylum procedures to documents to obtain a driver’s license or a small loan,” the study says.
The DDIA examined, in this second part, more than 18,400 unique suspicious messages, which were shared in 3,300 public groups in which Spanish is spoken within the instant messaging platform, from January 1 to September 1, 2025. Hundreds of these messages appear with the caption “transmitted several times”, which reflects the speed and dangerousness of this content, underlines the institute.
Obtain legal status
Some criminals pose as consultants or specialists offering shortcuts to residency, work permits, asylum and even U.S. citizenship. These services are mainly aimed at Venezuelan migrants. “I’m not a lawyer,” they say to feign transparency.
According to the DDIA, fraudsters first fuel fear and urgency by spreading alarmist information about unverified immigration raids or inventing official-sounding requirements or deadlines; When anxiety peaks, they offer “hope” and “solutions.”
Job offers
The need for financial stability is the second category that scammers focus on when preying on Latinos in the United States. The study revealed at least 83 unique messages linked to fake job offers that could reach 22,000 users on WhatsApp.
In this area, two patterns stand out. The first are opportunities to work remotely and/or with minimum experience required (e.g. remote packager or remote product tester). The main attraction of these offers is the higher-than-usual salaries.
The second is recruiter training programs: criminals pose as companies in the insurance or energy sectors, promising comprehensive training, flexible hours and constantly repeating that no experience is necessary, a message that arouses suspicion.
Income and insurance
When it comes to housing, the institute found that groups on the instant messaging platform have names of specific places in Florida, such as Davenport, Kissimmee and Haines. Scammers share information about cheap room rentals, but ask for a deposit via Zelle either Cash app so that the interested person can see the place.
“You need insurance…Are you worried about your family?” This is the hook that criminals use to offer life insurance or credit repair with “too good to be true” schemes. The same thing happens with legal assistance in the event of an accident. The study also collects testimonials such as: “She is reliable, speaks your language and is there to help you”, “Reliable, committed and always ready to support you”, to generate trust in an “agent”.
The study
During the first nine months of 2025, the investigation revealed at least 4,400 unique posts that appear to promote fraudulent immigration services to the Latino community. According to data obtained by Palver, a technology company specializing in the analysis of social trends, this content reached more than 31,000 users in 101 groups, making this type of scam one of the largest and most widespread in the Latin community.
The first part of the study was published in November this year and focused on unreal discounts, giveaways or fake stores. Scammers pose as brands such as Shein, Temu, Apple or Walmart, to name a few, and ask users to fill out forms or play in an app with the promise of winning a “mystery box” or gift cards. Topics such as smartphone sales, extremely cheap internet plans and big last-minute sales were also discussed.
About The Author
