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Green Card Fraud On The Internet
By MK Anwar
Bandar Seri
Begawan - Don't be duped by Green Card Fraudsters.
These are the slick operators who run some sophisticated scams in
cyberspace to make a fast buck from the gullible.
Their modus operandi is to cheat
people who plan to migrate to the USA under the genuine Diversity
Immigrant Visa Program.
According to diplomatic channels some fraudulent schemes are said
to be in operation aimed at profiting from organised scams.
Every year the USA mandated by the Diversity Immigrant Visa
Program makes available 50,000 permanent resident visas which can
be won through a lottery. Also called the Green Card lottery,
winners or recipients of this visa are chosen randomly by a
computer.The public is
reminded that there are a lot of fraudulent schemes to win or
apply for the Green Card lottery. Deputy Chief of Mission of the
USA in Brunei, Mr Jeff Hawkins told the Weekend yesterday that it
was absolutely free for anyone to apply and that no amount of
money had to be paid by the applicants.
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Using another party like those
advertisers in the Internet to help process the application means
that applicants will have to give in all their personal details.
This of course can be a danger as these personal details can be
used for other purposes especially since these bogus businesses
may engage in identity theft.
According to Mr Hawkins, requirements to take part in the Green
Card lottery are also simple. Entrants must be from an eligible
country and that they must meet the education or training
requirement. |
Some countries are not eligible to
enter because they have already sent more than 50,000 immigrants into
the US for the past five years. The countries not eligible for the
2007 Green Card lottery include Canada, China, Colombia, Dominican
Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines,
Poland, Russia, South Korea, United Kingdom and Vietnam.
With such a simple requirement, applications have been overwhelming
but only a limited number of people are selected.
Explaining further on the Green Card, Mr Hawkins said that
applications can be made personally at the State Department website.
There have been several websites that offered their services for the
Green Card application and he added that some might claim that their
chances at winning the Green Card would be higher if they applied
through them. Such claims, however, are not true as winners are picked
randomly without any preference.
Again it must be reiterated that application is free and that winners
are picked randomly by computer.
Another important fact is that those applying are only allowed to
submit one application each year. Mr. Jeff Hawkins mentioned that
those applying more than once would be easily detected. Also if they
submit more than once, the applicant will be disqualified from taking
part in the lottery.
The US Federal Trade Commission in its website has also released
important information about the presence of fake or bogus Green Card
applying websites and the dangers of using these services.
FTC in a warning also reminds people to be sceptical on websites that
are posing as US government websites. Several of these websites have
tried to make it look as if it is a US official website. Even if these
websites may look 'official', an important sign of a non-government
site is that the end of their domain name does not end with ".gov". --
Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin
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