U.S. Department of Justice

The recognition and accreditation office at the Justice Department halted new approvals this week after several staff members were reassigned, pausing the program that accredits nonlawyers and groups to help indigent immigrants.

Since at least the mid-2010s, fraudsters have shifted investment and romance scams into overseas call centers that prey on U.S. residents. They recruit multilingual staff in Southeast Asia, use social media and messaging apps to build trust, and push victims into cryptocurrency payments that are hard to trace or reverse.