Scam artists target immigrants in Oklahoma

Hispanic immigrants, especially those here illegally, are being bilked out of thousands of dollars in motor vehicle sales, home repairs and legal paperwork, an assistant attorney general said Monday.

Immigrants are vulnerable because they are unfamiliar with American customs and business practices and are unaware of available remedies to them, Julie Bays, with the attorney general’s consumer protection unit, told members of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Latin American and Hispanic Affairs.

Undocumented immigrants, besides struggling with a language barrier, can’t turn to law enforcement for help, she said.

"They’re not as likely to complain,” Bays said. "If they’re not here legally, who are they going to complain to?”

Council member Guillermo Rojas, editor of a Tulsa weekly newspaper, said he’s aware of used-car dealers selling the same car to as many as four or five people in a short period of time. Dealers don’t provide a title to the car, and then claim the car when the buyer of the vehicle violates a traffic law and the car is impounded, or the purchaser doesn’t make a payment on time.

"They do it on purpose,” Rojas said, noting dealers are to provide a title to the purchaser a couple of weeks after the transaction.

Rojas said another scam consists of a group telling people they can be hired for jobs in other states if they pay $2,000. After paying and driving to another state, the applicant discovers there is no job.