As we reported previously, the registration period for the 2008 Diversity Visa (DV) lottery (also known as the Green Card lottery) is open from October 4, 2006 to December 3, 2006.  Around this time, there may also be an increase in websites falsely appearing as government sites and "spam" emails claiming "you've won the DV lottery"  Selected DV lottery winners are only contacted via letter by the U.S. Department of State's Kentucky Consular Center (KCC).  DV Lottery winners are never notified via email.  The KCC letter contains instructions for the visa application process and fees are paid in person only at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate at the time of the visa application. Government websites only use the indicator .gov and all forms and information about the DV lottery procedure is available free on the Department of State's website.  You should never send money for DV fees through the mail, through Western Union, or any other delivery service.

If you have questions whether notification you received may be a scam, DOS has a website fraud warning page at http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1749.html.  If you have been the victim of internet fraud, please see the econsumer.gov website at http://www.econsumer.gov/english.

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