RIYADH: The US Embassy, in a press release Sunday, said that fraudulent e-mails, websites, and print advertisements offering visa services are on the rise, and it reminded Saudi citizens and residents in the country to use caution when working with private entities to apply for visas to the United States. Fraudulent emails stating a recipient has won the US Diversity Visa (DV) lottery frequently circulate on the Internet, according to the statement. While at first glance these messages may appear to be official US Government communications, they are actually not; they come from a fraudulent source, it said, adding that “the US Embassy and consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran would like to warn the public to use extreme caution in replying to or providing any information requested via emails or other forms of communication claiming to be from a US Embassy or Consulate”. In particular, one widespread Diversity Visa (DV) scam e-mail instructs recipients to send money via Western Union to a fictitious person at the US Embassy in London, the statement said. “If you have received this e-mail, you have been targeted by con artists. Under no circumstances should money be sent to any address for participation in the DV Lottery. The US Department of State's Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) does not send e-mail notification to DV entrants informing them of their winning entries. The only official way to receive status updates is through the DV program website at www.dvlottery.state.gov.,” it said. Successful DV-2011 applicants already have been notified by KCC by letter, not by e-mail. DV-2011 entrants also can check the status of their entries at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov until June 30, 2011. Entrants will not be asked to send money to the KCC or any US embassy or consulate, according to the statement. Entrants who completed the online DV-2012 entries will not receive notification letters from KCC. Rather, they must check the status of their entries themselves through the Entrant Status Check available at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov between May 1, 2011, and June 30, 2012, it said.
