Participation in the Green Card lottery is free and does not require the help of intermediaries, the US Embassy reminds
The fraud scheme works something like this: criminals enter names into the online visa application program, often without the knowledge of the citizens to whom they belong. Then the fraudsters gain access to a confirmation number, which is provided to visa applicants online, and if the US State Department issues a visa to one of these applicants, the criminals contact that person and extort money for providing the visa confirmation number.
The US Embassy says that this scheme is quite widespread in Ukraine, so the embassy together with the State Department has long been informing Ukrainian residents about the terms of the visa lottery.
First of all, the applicant should remember that participation in the lottery is free, the embassy states. If, in any way, payment for services is demanded from them, it is the work of scammers.
Moreover, an application for participation can only be submitted on the website of the US State Department (whose domain address has the suffix .gov). You can check the status of your application yourself on the same website.
The US Embassy emphasizes that the help of intermediaries in filling out and submitting the application is not needed. If the applicant does use the services of intermediaries, he must be present during the application process to save the page and confirmation code and ensure that no one else saves this information. It is mandatory to print and save the application confirmation page and the unique confirmation code, as this is the only way to check the status of the application later.
If the applicant has nevertheless become a victim of scammers, the US Embassy recommends contacting the consulate for further advice.
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