Beware of emails telling you that you have won the DV lottery and that you have to send money by Western Union to some address in order to process your Visa. These are bogus emails.
Here is one such:
U.S. Department of State Public
communication Division:
2201 C Street NW PA/PL,Rm.2206
Washington, DC 20520 U.S Department of state www.dvlottery.state.gov
2201C Street NW Washington,D.C.20520
Dear Client,
Congratulations ! ! You have been selected as one of the
lucky winners on our internet screening
machine,DV-2004-2005 USA national visa lottery program.
It is our pleasure to congratulate you on your success in
the America DV-2004-2005 VISA LOTTERY GREENCARD Your visa lottery winner's identity is ID-GRN777#4200DV# and the serial net visa passport attached to your case number is SNVPh700IU# .
In this respect,you are directed to forward the following
(a) Your present contact address(for correspondent)
(b) Your recent passport photograph :REGULAR MAIL: You can also send your photo(s) by regular mail. The photo must be between 1 ½ by 1 ½ and 2 by 2 inches (37-50 mm) square, with the applicant's, spouse's, or child's name printed on the back. Please mail the photos to: Immigration Services 211 South St. #334 Philadelphia, PA 19147 United States.
******Preferably for faster delivery and are implored to
make a scanned copy of your recent passport photograph and
send it via online(email) to our immigration service***********.
(c) Clearance/acceptance fees of ($749.67)/($949.67)for
SINGLE /FAMILY SIZE STATUS SHOULD BE SEND THROUGH WESTERN
UNION MONEY TRANSFER THROUGH OUR FINANCE CENTER ON THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION FOR IMMEDIATE CLAIM OF YOUR PAYMENT BY OUR AGENCY.
NAME: ............... CHARLENE SANDRA TAYLOR...............
ZIP CODE /CITY :.. 97437 ELIMIRA..........OREGON..........
COUNTRY: .........USA...................
Kindly ensure that your western Union payment information
are sent to our agency
email(paymentagency_sandrataylor@yahoo.com) as soon as
possible so as to enable us accomplish the processing in
due time for your take off procedure as scheduled on our record.
Details of requirements:
Your present contact address should be forwarded strictly
to our attached network receieving email address for
correspondent:
Alternatvely for faster processing, a scanned copy of your passport photograph should be send via our attached network recieving email
addresses:(paymentagency_sandrataylor@yahoo.com)
A clearance/acceptance fees
payment($749.67)/($949.67)SINGLE /FAMILY SIZE STATUS.: we accept only western union from our past experiences. (creditcard is not acceptable) Your western union money transfer payment information should be forwarded as directed on payment procedures via our attached network recieving email
addresses:(paymentagency_sandrataylor@yahoo.com)
Your payment confirmation shall be sent to you as soon as clarification is done on your payment. Providing the aboverequirements will assure you your visa lottery acknowledgement card and visa lottery security case code which would be sent to your email addresses as provided.
Important notice :Please make sure you report and forward
your lottery visa case code and acknowledgement cardto the
USA embassy in individual country for other necessary
claims as soon as you have been sent all the
necessary migration credentials via our attached courier service on accomplishing all necessary process and payment procedure.
According to the united states code of conduct
andconstitution Vol.176/866 :Act 690SN guiding all
immigration, green card permit agencies if non-response
after 14days on receiving this notification, your winner's status shall reveal no interest and we would inresponse refer your lottery winning code and acknowledgement card back to the USA government/immigration service center.
We shall be anticipating for your response soonest.
NB: THIS YEAR DV-2004-2005 WHICH YOU APPEARED AS ONE OF
THE LUCKY WINNERS IS NOW OVER AND WE HAVE THE DV2005-2006 EXCERCISE IN PROGRESS (SORRY FOR THE LATE RESPONSE).
Thanks.
Sandra Taylor
Online Co-ordinator
CONGRATULATIONS
!!!
Kevin Powell
President
_____________________________________________________________________
For super low premiums, click here http://www.dialdirect.co.za/quote
Things to note:
1) official email from a US Gov't agency will not have an ad at the end like this one.
2) They quote the US Department of State website url just to make them look more credible but this is what the website says about the DV program and who is in charge of processing:
The (DV) program is administered directly from the U.S. Department of State Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky. The Kentucky center was established in the year 2000 by the U.S. Department of State to take over administration of the Diversity Visa Lottery program from the National Visa Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Therefore you should not be sending any money anywhere else and the fact remains that fees are supposed to be paid at the office when you go for your interview because this is how it is done:
A Diversity processing fee is only charged when a winning lottery entrant applies for the Diversity visa. At the time of the visa application at a U.S. consular office, each applicant (the DV entrant and any accompanying family members) will be charged a DV processing fee and immigrant visa fee.
3) They say it's the "DV 2005-2006" program when in fact the website will show that the actual name for the program is not this.
Here is what the actual US Department of State site says about selection:
SELECTION OF APPLICANTS
Applicants will be selected at random by computer from among all qualified entries. Those selected will be notified by mail between May and July 2005 and will be provided further instructions, including information on fees connected with immigration to the U.S.
(http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1318.html)
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Why I won't go back ....Part 1: Ferreira Optical
On the surface, things are quite pleasant at Ferreira's. The customer service personnel are somewhat friendly, if not completely efficient and you even get Magna points on your payments.
The first thing that turned me off:
The customer service agent spent literally almost an hour adjusting and re-adjusting the frame of my glasses which had previously felt fine to me. You'd think it would fit perfectly afterwards right? Wrong! After wearing it for just a few hours, the back of my ears was sore from too much pressure from the frame. I tried not pressing it down when I put it on, but this did not make a difference. I had to endure that discomfort for as long as it took me to get to an office and get another person to re-adjust it for me. This one wanted to show off his knowledge so he made a point about telling me the biological name of the tissue that the frame was pressing on...he managed to alleviate some of my distress (with his adjustments) so it felt a little better, but it turns out that it was not completely perfect so I had to end up doing some of my own bending and twisting to get the frame to fit without causing me headaches.
Second issue:
I paid a lot extra for my lenses because they at Ferreira's did not have the inexpensive coating that did the same job that transitions lens does. I also paid for anti-reflective coating which managed to crack all over my lens after just a few months making it look extremely scratched. I now have to go back and show this to them to hear what their story will be.
Third issue:
One of the apparently inferior nose pads on my lens recently broke off so I had to have it replaced. I was charged $17 for one pad, not even a pair. You'd think this would be free...after all, it's the fault of their inferior frame, which I bought at their store. I've never had to buy a nose pad before, they all previously outlasted the lenses and the frame. The other side is already half-broken and apparently they didn't have the foresight to replace it the same time as the other, one so when that one comes off, I will have to march back to the store to get another replacement...and hope they haven't jacked up the prices! LOL
Now why would I ever want to go back to a place as incompetent as this one, selling inferiour quality products, and not providing less-expensive but perfectly viable alternatives to customers? I cannot think of a single reason. I don't care how many Magna points I can get. It's no wonder they have to advertise, they certainly won't get any word-of-mouth testimonials from me, or probably any of their other customers.
The first thing that turned me off:
The customer service agent spent literally almost an hour adjusting and re-adjusting the frame of my glasses which had previously felt fine to me. You'd think it would fit perfectly afterwards right? Wrong! After wearing it for just a few hours, the back of my ears was sore from too much pressure from the frame. I tried not pressing it down when I put it on, but this did not make a difference. I had to endure that discomfort for as long as it took me to get to an office and get another person to re-adjust it for me. This one wanted to show off his knowledge so he made a point about telling me the biological name of the tissue that the frame was pressing on...he managed to alleviate some of my distress (with his adjustments) so it felt a little better, but it turns out that it was not completely perfect so I had to end up doing some of my own bending and twisting to get the frame to fit without causing me headaches.
Second issue:
I paid a lot extra for my lenses because they at Ferreira's did not have the inexpensive coating that did the same job that transitions lens does. I also paid for anti-reflective coating which managed to crack all over my lens after just a few months making it look extremely scratched. I now have to go back and show this to them to hear what their story will be.
Third issue:
One of the apparently inferior nose pads on my lens recently broke off so I had to have it replaced. I was charged $17 for one pad, not even a pair. You'd think this would be free...after all, it's the fault of their inferior frame, which I bought at their store. I've never had to buy a nose pad before, they all previously outlasted the lenses and the frame. The other side is already half-broken and apparently they didn't have the foresight to replace it the same time as the other, one so when that one comes off, I will have to march back to the store to get another replacement...and hope they haven't jacked up the prices! LOL
Now why would I ever want to go back to a place as incompetent as this one, selling inferiour quality products, and not providing less-expensive but perfectly viable alternatives to customers? I cannot think of a single reason. I don't care how many Magna points I can get. It's no wonder they have to advertise, they certainly won't get any word-of-mouth testimonials from me, or probably any of their other customers.
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