Deportation fears make immigrants easy targets for scams

In the 30 years she’s lived in New York, Odalys González Silvera said she’d seen everything.

In the 30 years she’s lived in New York, Odalys González Silvera said she’d seen everything. But she wasn’t prepared for what happened to her recently.

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“Although I sought advice and researched a number of things, unfortunately I fell victim to immigration fraud. I think this internet thing doesn’t help,” she said.

González Silvera, 61, a Venezuelan immigrant and a legal resident of the U.S., runs a small grocery store distribution business in the Bronx. She said her life changed dramatically after she sought legal help for a family member in immigration detention in Arizona.