US warns Pinoys on Diversity Visa scam

The United States on Tuesday warned Philippine-born applicants on falling prey to a visa scam involving the US Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery Program. In an advisory, the Embassy cited reports that fraudulent e-mails, websites, and print ads offering visa services are on the rise. "In particular, one widespread Diversity Visa scam e-mail instructs recipients to send money via Western Union to a fictitious person at the US Embassy in London. If you have received this e-mail, you have been targeted by con artists," according to the advisory. “UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should money be sent to any address for participation in the DV Lottery. The Department of State's Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) does not send e-mail notification to DV entrants informing them of their winning entries," it said. The Embassy pointed out Philippine-born applicants are excluded from the DV Lottery Program in the first place. Only natives of countries who are determined by the US Attorney General to be "low-admission" countries may compete for immigration under this program, it said. "DV-2012 applicants will never receive correspondence containing information on an applicant's status, but will only receive notification directing them to check their status on the official website. The only official way to receive status updates is through the DV program website at www.dvlottery.state.gov," the US embassy said. Many private websites offer legitimate services to help individuals apply for visas, but some illegitimate entities claim they provide "visa services" as a cover for scams or identity theft, the embassy warned. "Some of these websites may attempt to charge a fee for providing forms and information about immigration procedures that are available to the public at no charge on the Department of State (www.state.gov) and travel.state.gov websites, or through the US Embassy Manila website at http://manila.usembassy.gov," it said. The embassy advised people who wish to apply for US visas to be cautious before deciding to send by e-mail their personal information including credit card and bank account numbers. It said the only official way to register for the DV program is through the official US Department of State website during the specified, limited-time registration period. The DV program offers up to 55,000 visa slots a year for people who wish to apply for immigration to the United States. Applicants selected in a random draw are notified by the State Department and are given instructions on how to proceed to the next step in the process. "No other organization or private company is authorized by the US Department of State to notify DV program applicants of their winning entries or the next steps in the process of applying for their immigrant visas," it said. Successful DV-2011 applicants are notified by surface mail, not by e-mail. — VS, GMA News