ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Our viewers are getting letters asking when they were arrested by ICE but they’ve never been arrested by any police.
“I’m like ‘what the hell is this?’” said Tyler Wise who got the NYC ICE Settlement letter.
Viewers like Wise are getting letters from a class action lawsuit in New York City asking for their immigration status, their ICE arrest date and how much jail time they got. Our viewers tell News10NBC Chief Investigative Reporter Berkeley Brean it’s freaking them out.
Brean: “Tell me what you thought when that letter arrived in the mail?”
Scott Wormuth, received NYC ICE Settlement letter: “So I went to the mailbox and got it and the first thing I saw was up in the corner and it said ‘NYC ICE.’ And I figured ICE, I don’t want anything to do with.”
Wormuth got the letter a few weeks ago. It asks for his social security number, date of birth, aliases, the dates he was in a New York City jail, a photo of his driver’s license and his alien immigration number.
Brean: “They want all the information that we tell people they should never share.”
Scott Wormuth: “Not to give! Right! Which I didn’t do.”
Brean: “And how much time did you spend in jail in New York City?”
Wormuth: “I haven’t been yet.” (laughs)
Brean: “So zero.”
Scott Wormuth: “It’s not in the plan.” (laughs)
Brean: “Have you ever been arrested by ICE?”
Tyler Wise: “Nope.”
When Wise got the letter he wondered if he was in trouble.
“So I did some research and I was like – ‘I never even signed up for this. What is this letter?’” said Wise.
The letter goes back to a case where a man sued New York City for wrongful arrest. It turned into a class action lawsuit and last year New York City settled for $90 million. The law firm is sending these letters to weed out fraudulent claims. It’s already identified 11,000.
What this means is that someone is using the names of our viewers to file fraudulent claims to get class action money. The law firm can’t explain why someone used Scott’s name or Tyler’s name or any of the other people who told Brean they got the letter.
In a statement the firm says “Fraudulent claims are, unfortunately, common in large class settlements. That is why (we) rely on tools to validate claims before any payments are made. Letters such as these are one of those tools and are widely recognized as a best practice. These procedures are meant not only to stop invalid claims, but also to protect people who never filed claims in the first place. All information submitted with a claim is kept strictly confidential and is destroyed in accordance with applicable data privacy requirements. Although no private data was compromised through the administrator’s systems, we encourage individuals who did not file these claims to work directly with the credit bureaus to monitor their credit and ensure their information remains secure. Credit bureaus can assist with placing fraud alerts, reviewing activity, and taking appropriate steps if any unauthorized use is detected.”
Brean: “What’s your number one concern about getting this?”
Scott Wormuth: “I’m hoping someone is not running around using my identity and getting arrested. That would be bad. But also people might get nervous of scared and give their information or they might see that it’s a claim and they might think they’re going to get something out of it.”
If you have nothing to do with this case, throw the letter out. But the law firm says if you are involved, fill out the form. It will get you the money you’re owed. They promise the information is confidential. And if you are affected, let News10NBC know. We’d like to hear from you.
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