The U.S. Embassy in Colombo warns Sri Lankan citizens about internet scams related to the U.S. Diversity Visa Lottery or commonly known as “Green Card Lottery”.

The Consular Division of the U.S. Embassy informs that the U.S. Government does not notify green card lottery winners by email and instructs not to respond or pay any money on the instructions of these emails.    

The following is the full text of the press release:

The Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Colombo would like to address recent concerns over e-mails that claim to be sent on behalf of the U.S. Department of State or its Bureau of Consular Affairs. We are aware that several entities claiming to be the Department of State or facilitators for the Diversity Visa Lottery or Green Cards send malicious and fraudulent e-mails to Sri Lankan citizens. For your protection, please note the following:

1. Diversity Visa Lottery notifications are NOT sent via e-mail. E-mails stating that you have won the Diversity Visa Lottery or a Green Card are NOT legitimate. Diversity Visa Lottery entrants may check the status of their online application by visiting www.dvlottery.state.gov for the DV 2012 season beginning on July 15, 2011.

2. Only Internet sites ending in “.gov” are official U.S. Government websites. If you receive an e-mail from an address that ends with “.com”, “.net”, or “.org”, it is NOT an official e-mail from the U.S. Embassy.

I hope you find this information useful. Please do not hesitate to share this information with friends and family.