U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has learned that employers have been receiving scam e-mails requesting Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) information that appear to come from USCIS even though employers are not required to submit Forms I-9 to USCIS [USCIS News Release, Scam Alert: USCIS Does Not Request Forms I-9 Via Email, 10/25/17].

Employers must complete Form I-9 for all newly hired employees to verify their identity and authorization to work in the U.S. (see Payroll Guide ¶  20,385  ).  Form I-9 contains sensitive identifying data such as an employee’s full legal name, date of birth, and Social Security Number or Alien Number.

The scam e-mails are coming from a fraudulent e-mail address ([email protected]). This is not a USCIS e-mail address. The body of the e-mail may contain USCIS and Office of the Inspector General labels, the employer’s address, and a fraudulent download button that links to a non-government web address (uscis-online.org). USCIS is advising employers not to respond to these e-mails or to click on the links in them.

Any business who has received a scam e-mail should report the incident on the FTC Complaint Assistant web page on the Federal Trade Commission’s website.

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#crnt&panel1-1

Employers who are unsure if it is a scam should forward the suspicious e-mail to the USCIS  webmaster, [email protected].  USCIS will review the e-mail and share it with law enforcement agencies if appropriate.