Vancouver Family latest victim of American Green Card scam

A North Vancouver family was hoping to obtain their ‘Green Card’ from the U.S. Department of State when things fell apart. They had applied to the U.S. Diversity Visa Program (also known as the Green Card Lottery where the United States Government issues 50,000 permanent Green Cards selected randomly by computer, if selected you are authorized to live and work permanently in the United States).

The applicant received an official looking e-mail from what was believed the U.S. State Department. The e-mail directed him to utilize ‘Western Union’ to pay a Visa Processing fee of $1638.00 to a U.S. Embassy agent in London, England. After several days there was no confirmation received by the family and they soon discovered that they had been defrauded of their money.

The North Vancouver RCMP are investigating the matter and attempting to determine how the victims application information was made public and if there are other victims that have experienced similar loss. Cpl. Richard De Jong of the North Vancouver RCMP advises, “the U.S. Department of State website provides a public warning that they do not send e-mail confirmations, you must check their web page with your number issued upon application. As in all these situations it is prudent to check out the source before parting with your money.”