Has 'Scam' Written All Over It!!

[Channah&Aaron 51]

; these type of persons makes my stomach upside down!!!!!

I hope most of them will get busted, UGH!

[Gosia & Tito 199]

Hey everyone,

I am unfamiliar with Diversity Lottery procedures and process, and I am posting this on behalf a friend of mine. She is Egyptian and has a 5-year B2 Visa to the US which she used already once for 6 months and has been back in Egypt since. Anyways, yesterday she forwarded me an e-mail she received from DOS (allegedly) which says she is a Diversity Lottery 2011 Winner and asking her to send money to some address in London!!! I know it has SCAM written all over it!! How does she report this if it is a scam?

Here's a copy of the e-mail:

For once, The government would doe snot use a .com domain (as in usa.com); it would always be .gov

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Diversity Lottery winners are never notified by email - only by paper mail. Those who don't win don't receive any notification at all. There is a website where supposed winners can go and check their names on the actual winning site. It is interesting, however, that people who have applied are getting scammed so someone somewhere has access to the list of applicants and isn't being very ethical with it.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1318.html

[milimelo 4,412]

Diversity Lottery winners are never notified by email - only by paper mail. Those who don't win don't receive any notification at all. There is a website where supposed winners can go and check their names on the actual winning site. It is interesting, however, that people who have applied are getting scammed so someone somewhere has access to the list of applicants and isn't being very ethical with it.

http://travel.state....types_1318.html

Actually, no - since they started with the electronic processing, an applicant has to log to the diversity visa website with their confirmation number which they received when they registered for the lottery to see if they won or not. NOTHING is mailed as a winning notification. Only after the winners send in their required forms do they get a letter with their interview schedule -- usually a month before their number becomes current in the visa bulletin.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Ah - then it has changed. Thanks for the update. So it is a pretty sure bet then that receiving anything in the mail or by email is going to be 'fake'.

[Entridian 0]

My wife received the same email last night...2 days before our scheduled interview. When the email came, I thought it was some sort of a notification from the USCIS at first.

The scary thing is that the letter had the correct name and country of origin. I wonder where they got the information...

On a separate note, getting a bit nervous about the interview tomorrow...

[JoannaV 174]

It is interesting, however, that people who have applied are getting scammed so someone somewhere has access to the list of applicants and isn't being very ethical with it.

People who haven't applied receive this email too. It is just mass e-mailed to a tonne of people and obviously some of those will be DV applicants. Similar to the football results prediction scam: http://www.skepdic.com/perfectprediction.html

Unfortunately the names and countries relating to email accounts are often easy to find.

[Harsh_77 716]

WOW, they guarentee you a job and help with insurance, housing AND you can bring your cousins?

Amazing

Total scam

All for $819......lol