Bountiful restaurant receives phone calls threatening an immigration raid

BOUNTIFUL, Utah (ABC4) — A Bountiful restaurant called Annie’s Cafe was left short-staffed on Tuesday because some employees were worried about a potential ICE raid. This came after the restaurant received multiple phone calls by someone claiming to be a police officer working in immigration.

The Bountiful Police Department believes the calls were part of a scam. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has tips to help people identify this type of scam, which can cost victims thousands.  

The owner Annie Bennett is sharing her story to warn others out there.   

Bennett told ABC4.com that it started with a phone call on Saturday. The caller claimed to be an officer with Bountiful Police Department working in immigration. He demanded that she give him information about all her Latino employees and if she didn’t comply, they would come and remove everybody by force. 

Annie Bennett immigrated to the United States from Argentina three decades ago. In 2019, she and her husband opened their restaurant. Until now, she had never experienced something like this.

“There is so much hate around today. We need peace,” she stated. “The Latino community, we are not criminals. I’m a wife. I’m a mom. I’m a grandma. I own my place with my husband. We are hard workers, both of us. This is not right.”  

On Tuesday, it was evident that she and some of her staff were a little on edge. She added: “I have people who never showed up to work today because they’re afraid of this.”

When asked what the general feeling at the restaurant was, the restaurant manager Brady replied, “Just really anxious and nervous. Not only just for people who work here but people everywhere.”  

“He said I’m going to come and get all the Latinos and if I have to break your doors and windows I will pull every single person from the kitchen,” Bennett told ABC4 as she recounted the phone call. She continued “I [the caller] will destroy your place.”  

Bennet explained that after repeatedly refusing to give any personal information, the caller got angry and hung up. An almost identical call happened again on Monday.   

The Bountiful Police Department told ABC4 that it believes this was a random scam. According to police, these types of calls happen often but usually don’t target businesses. They usually target individuals.

Bennet said she is grateful for how the police department has worked for her and that it had extra patrols to make sure everyone was safe.  

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Kansas City issued a fraud alert relating to this type of call back in 2023. Its website pushed that archived alert out again on June 11, 2025.  

The website reads: Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Kansas City is issuing a fraud alert to warn the public of reports that HSI telephone numbers have been recently used as part of a telephone spoofing scam targeting individuals throughout the country. Spoofing is the deliberate falsifying of information transmitted to a caller ID display to disguise an identity.  

It continues: The perpetrators of these scams represent themselves as employees with Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of Homeland Security or other government entities. They alter caller ID systems to make it appear that the calls are from legitimate phone numbers within Homeland Security Investigations and the Department of Homeland Security. The scammers obtain or verify personally identifiable information from their victims through various tactics, such as by telling people they are victims of identity theft. Scammers also pose as law enforcement or immigration officials and threaten victims with arrest unless they make payments using a variety of methods. 

HSI says people should always be wary of callers claiming to be from any government agency. To hang up before giving any information. To look up the agency’s official phone number online. To call that agency directly to ensure the caller is a real representative.   

Those who are targeted by this type of call are encouraged to call the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General’s hotline at (800) 323-8603 to report it.