BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?

Subject: BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?
From: Amergin
Date: 14 Sep 03 - 01:39 AM

My future bride the other day came across an internet ad for a green card lottery,....it says about 50,000 people worldwide get accepted every year....It took her to a site called www.usafis.org...she thought it sounded good so she started the application. Apparently it said it was free...then it started asking for her credit card information....since she did not want to hand that out, being afriad it is a scam, she closed out of it...

Then she received the following email:


"Dear (my fiancee's name),

USAFIS Organization, Office of Visa Application Processing,is calling
you to use your right and get a legal Green Card to live and work in the
United States of America.

(fiancee) , We have noticed that you did not yet complete your
application. You have a good chance to live and work in the USA with
this program all you need to do is Click here
and
complete the payment information to be included inthe American Green
Card Lottery - Year 2003.

You should know that statistically one person out of every 70 applicants
wins the American Green Card Lottery every year.

This is not a dream


THIS IS REAL LIFE FOR 50,000 PEOPLE, JUST LIKE YOU, EVERY YEAR.

Green Card Lottery (DV Program) Is The Official USA Congress Law


Complete your dVapplic* and keep your special price

In case you have any questions, use our online helpdesk at:
http://www.usafis.org/helpdesk

50,000 New Americans Every Year

50,000 people from all over the world will be the lucky winners of the
American Green Card Lottery - and you Jeanette , can be one of them.

Completing your application is done online and requires 5 minutes of
your time.Don`t miss this great chance to live and work in the USA,
simply Click here
and you
might be one of the lucky winners of the American Green Card Lottery -
Year 2003.

Important

If you already completed your registration for next year Green Card
Lottery, please ignore this e-mail.

Problems?


If you can`t click on the above link, please cut and paste the following
web address into your
browser:deleting for privacy purposes

Sincerely Yours,

Dan Gold
dVapplic* Program Director
Office of Visa Application Processing
www.usafis.org

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL

Privacy notice:
This electronic transmission may contain privileged and confidential
information and is intended only for the person to whom it is addressed.
Any claim to privilege is not waived or lost by reason of mistaken
transmission of this information. If you are not the intended recipient,
please delete this transmission immediately and notify the sender. Thank
you.

Want to remove your details? Click here to unsubscribe
."


Now on the surface I was thinking it may be a scam but I am not sure...I do know it is NOT the official INS site as that is www.bcis.gov...but with her permission I decided to ask here thinking surely there is some one here who would know if it is a scam or if it is legit....

Thank you very much.

Subject: RE: BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?
From: Nerd
Date: 14 Sep 03 - 02:30 AM

I don't think it's precisely a scam, in that it's legal for you to hire a company to apply to the diversity visa Green Card Lottery for you. So it's legal for a company to charge you to administer your application. But it's totally unnecessary to do that, because you can apply for free without a middleman:

http://travel.state.gov/DV2004.html

Keep in mind that this program does not apply to people in some countries, so read the site above. Your Fiancee may not be eligible.

Best of luck!

Subject: RE: BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?
From: mack/misophist
Date: 14 Sep 03 - 02:36 AM

Only the government can issue green cards. Government offices all have .gov URLs. Some one else can help you apply. but if I were you, I'd look over the paperwork myself to see if it seems necessary. Remember that most agencies (like La 'Migra) will help you also.

Subject: RE: BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?
From: Rapparee
Date: 14 Sep 03 - 10:02 AM

Just because the URL is ".org" doesn't mean that it's not out to get your money. Once the ".org" was limited to non-profit groups, but now it seems that there is no control over eligibility. Most ".org"s are legitimate non-profits (my own library is one such, and we're DEFINITELY non-profit!), but there are some out there who take advantage of the original intent of the suffix.

I'm not saying tht the company your fiancee ran across is a bunch of crooks or scam artists, but I find it interesting that they have in essence sent her a spam reply.

As has been said, go it alone if you can.

Subject: RE: BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 14 Sep 03 - 12:50 PM

Amergin, there is no need for your future bride to enter a green card lottery. Just marry her, and she will get her social security number the very same day and you will be able to send her out to work immediately.

Murray

Subject: RE: BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 14 Sep 03 - 12:51 PM

mmm, not very felicitously phrased, I should have said ".....she will be able to start work immediately....."

Murray

Subject: RE: BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 14 Sep 03 - 01:01 PM

waht does felicitously mean?

Subject: RE: BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 14 Sep 03 - 01:03 PM

and how do you prounounciate it?

Subject: RE: BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?
From: GUEST,sorefingers
Date: 14 Sep 03 - 01:05 PM

"I don't think it's precisely a scam, in that it's legal for you to hire a company to apply to the diversity visa Green Card Lottery
for you. So it's legal for a company to charge you to administer your application. But it's totally unnecessary to do that,
because you can apply for free without a middleman"

An authority on Uillean/n pipes and now a legal expert!

You have some brass dude!

Amergin this is not only a con, it is also breaking US law. If you have not already informed the INS you should do so immediately.

Subject: RE: BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 14 Sep 03 - 01:10 PM

joHn, "felicitously" means "aptly" or "appropriately" (at least in this context) and is pronounciated " fell-LISS-it-iss-lee".

Murray

Subject: RE: BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 14 Sep 03 - 01:20 PM

thanks murray.john

Subject: RE: BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?
From: Rapparee
Date: 14 Sep 03 - 02:32 PM

Dear Sorefinger,

Nerd's right. You're wrong.

"

12. MUST EACH APPLICANT SUBMIT HIS/HER OWN ENTRY, OR MAY SOMEONE ACT ON BEHALF OF AN APPLICANT?

   

Applicants may prepare and submit their own entries, or have someone submit the entry for them. Regardless of whether an entry is submitted by the applicant directly, or assistance is provided by an attorney, friend, relative, etc., only one entry may be submitted in the name of each person. The applicant's original signature is required on the entry, regardless whether it is prepared and submitted by the applicant or by someone else. If the applicant does not personally sign the entry in his/her native alphabet, the entry will be disqualified. If the entry is selected, the notification
letter will be sent only to the
mailing address provided on the entry.

That's copied directly from the DV2004 website. Moreover, the program is administered by the State Department, not Immigration and Naturalization.

Subject: RE: BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?
From: Rapparee
Date: 14 Sep 03 - 02:33 PM

I apologize for the sloppy HTML -- I hit the submit button by mistake.

Subject: RE: BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?
From: Nerd
Date: 15 Sep 03 - 12:15 AM

As Sideshow Bob says when he emerges from prison and steps on a garden tool, "Aah, Rake! My old Nemesis!" Sorefingers has flipped me the bird in yet another thread. So permit me to make an aside for the next couple of paragraphs. Amergin, you may skip to the last paragraph.

Sorey, old buddy, you shouldn't make so many assumptions about people. This combination of expertise is not unusual in the US. As a professional folklorist, you're researching the history of bagpipes one moment, helping a Guatemalan weaver get a Green Card the next. It's all about handlooms, soul food, Latin percussion and immigration law!

I also might add that you too are claiming to be an authority on both bagpipes and immigration law, with far less success!

Amergin, there are actually many such organizations and they often have extremely pushy websites that try to prevent you from leaving by putting out pop-ups that say "don't give up your chance to apply!" They're trying to prevent you from going to the State Department website and finding out how easy it is to apply without them! I'd go there first (I provided the URL, and Rapaire the direct link) and only use help if you need it.

Best of luck once again.

Subject: RE: BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?
From: Amergin
Date: 15 Sep 03 - 10:54 PM

Ok, thanks everyone for you r advice...like I said we weren't quite sure whether if it was legit...and now that we know there are free ways of going about it...that sounds better to us...

Thanks again for all your input everyone!

Subject: RE: BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?
From: Maryrrf
Date: 16 Sep 03 - 08:01 AM

If you're going to marry her anyway, why bother with the lottery? She'll get in on a marriage visa much easier!

Subject: RE: BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?
From: Burke
Date: 16 Sep 03 - 07:11 PM

Is there anyone else out there who remembers the notorious Green Card Lottery as the first, e-mail SPAM?

Here's more Nine years ago!

Subject: RE: BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?
From: GUEST,USAFIS
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 07:52 AM

USAFIS an application review provider for the U.S. Green Card Lottery program. All too often, people who register for this wonderful opportunity do not make into the front door due to their application being disqualified. Whether the application was not filled out correctly, a person's photo did not meet U.S. government standards, or it was submitted too late are just some of the reasons why hundreds of thousands of applications per year never get a chance to qualify for the U.S. Green Card Lottery program. USAFIS is a for profit company that ensures if a person is eligible for the U.S. Green Card Lottery program that the person's application will qualify for the program. USAFIS does charge a nominal fee for it application review service, but for the hundreds of thousands of people who used our service they were completely satisfied.

Subject: RE: BS: Green Card Lottery-is this a scam?
From: GUEST,MiketheScot
Date: 03 Jun 09 - 11:04 AM

Now, if ever a thread needed a real Bagpipes officionado, and someone who knows from experience on US immigration laws, I recommend that you steer clear of USAFIS. They are a bunch of spamming twats! For anyone unfamiliar with the phrase "TWAT", try Google!