A bogus e-mail notification has been circulating in an attempt to fool people into thinking they were chosen for the 2004-5 DV-visa lottery program.  The letter, fraudulently stating that is from the Department of State, congratulates the recipients and then instructs them to send personal information along with a payment of $350 to its office.  The recipients of the e-mail are told that once payment is received, confirmation will be sent. 

According to the e-mail, “providing the above requirements (including a picture and payment) will assure you your visa lottery security code which we shall send to your e-mail address.”  Additionally, the e-mail states that if there is no response received from the applicant after 21 days, the recipient’s “winner status shall reveal no interest and we would in response refer [the recipient’s] lottery code and acknowledgement card back to the USA government/immigration service center.”

The only form of notification from the Department of State to lottery winners is the actual mailing of a package of documents.  THERE IS NO E-MAIL NOTIFICATION.  Anyone who receives this or any similar notifications via e-mail should disregard them and absolutely not send any money if an e-mail instructs them to do so. 

The “From” field on the e-mail is the e-mail address [dvlottery2004-2005@caramail.com].  The subject line is [DVLOTTERY2004-2005(CONGRATULATIONS)].