[AndreRoux]

I have been dreaming for years of working in the USA, and coming from South Africa, I realised that it was not just going to happen. Then On the Internet, I found USAFIS.ORG as a "legitimate" agent for green card lottery. I filled in a form, but due to Credit card fraud, decided not to go ahead with the application for green card lottery. A person, THOMAS HARRIS supposedly ffrom USAFIS.ORG, based in Europe called me by telephone to discuss my entry that was never completed. he suggested a two year entry @ $89.00 which fell within the limitation of my budget. Due to the fact that I did not have my credit card with me, I asked him to call me at a later stage, which he did, but once again I did not have my Credit Card with me. I asked him to call my wife at home, which he did, but in the process he led my wife to believe that I agreed to pay $179.00 plus a book of $25.00, WHICH I NEVER EVEN DISCUSSED WITH HIM. At no point did he ever even mention to me that there was an option of a four year entry into the lottery. He only discussed the two year entry at $89.00

The moment my wife told me about the $179.00 plus the $25.00, I e-mailed THOMAS HARRIS at e-mail address: Tal Harris [talhar@dsnr.net] to complain, and he called me back. After listening to my complaint, he promised to correct it, but now, days later, the $179.00 and the $25.00 have been taken from our account, but no correction as promised has been made. I have to date sent numerous e-mails to USAFIS.ORG, as well as to THOMAS HARRIS, but I am not even getting a response from them.

The only deduction that I can make is that I have been scammed out of $204.00 (or R1400.00 SOuth African) have hard earned and very much needed money.

Is USAFIS.ORG a legitimate Organisation? Why is there a link on your website to them? Are you "in business" with them? Is there anybody that will help me?
Is it right that an organisation like USAFIS.ORG can scam or con people out of money, and we cannot do anything about it

[phileysmiley]

Is USAFIS.ORG a legitimate Organisation?

That is exactly what we are asking. That is the point of this thread.

Why is there a link on your website to them? Are you "in business" with them?

We post thousands of links to websites here. We are not in business with any of them. We posted this one so that people could investigate whether or not it is legitimate and to warn people if they are not. I don't think if we were in business with them that they would appreciate that in the same post where I posted the link that I also called them a scam.

Is there anybody that will help me?

Hopefully someone will see your post. Since it was all in red, it was hard to read. I removed the color. Please post in black. Thanks!

[Sarah75]

The only deduction that I can make is that I have been scammed out of $204.00 (or R1400.00 SOuth African) have hard earned and very much needed money.

Is USAFIS.ORG a legitimate Organisation? Why is there a link on your website to them? Are you "in business" with them? Is there anybody that will help me?
Is it right that an organisation like USAFIS.ORG can scam or con people out of money, and we cannot do anything about it

I found this thread as a result of my own investigation into USAFIS.ORG. I registered so that I could provide what information I have thus far.

When I did a whois search on the domain name, I got this:


Registrant ID:F0DE57966570A743
Registrant Name:Domain Manager
Registrant Organization:USAFIS Organization DSNR
Registrant Street1:2565 Browadway 520
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:New York
Registrant State/Province:NY
Registrant Postal Code:10025
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.8666046385
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:domain@usafis.org


A corporation search with the New York State Department Of State indicated that no business entities with that name were found.

I did a reverse address search on the address, assuming by "Browadway" was intended to be "Broadway" (as there is no street named "Browadway" in New York City), and found that it is a mailing service store:

The Ups Store
2565 Broadway At West 96th St
New York, NY
(212) 866-5511

I called the phone number on the account and after a few rings, I was told that the number I called was no longer in service.

I sent an email to: domain@usafis.org and it was returned to me as undeliverable.

On the usafis.org website is a link to Trust-E that when clicked, goes to the Trust-E website and indicates that usafis.org is NOT legitimately permitted to use their trademarked symbol.



Taking all of this as a whole, I believe you were scammed. My suggestion is that you report your situation to the following:

http://www.consumer.state.ny.us/complaint.htm
http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/

The first link is run by New York State and the second by the FBI. I hope they are willing and able to help you.

Also, for anyone who wants to do the exact same thing as USAFIS professes to do, go here and follow the instructions:

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/divlott.htm

If I didn't have to work so much, I might be inclined to go down to that UPS Store one morning and wait to see who comes in for box 520..



Sarah

[augie]

Welcome aboard Sarah75 and thank you for posting your efforts and information in this obvious scam. I hope this will help some one.

[Odinn]

I forgot to mention that i received an "Immigration Bible" a couple months back from USAFIS in the mail. Scooby ?

[sy2003]

I am so regret to read this forum too late. I had participated usafis greencard lottery 10 years programme and had spent over 1000 on this program, which is 268 USD. Anyway, so far they gave me a good service and answered most of my questions.

I have a question to ask about you all here because I am not an American and I am not sure about the US rules with immigration.

Because of the bad experience in US embassy in Malaysia, I was rejected getting a non-immigrant visa because i didn't have property and i couldn't show my strong ties to my own country. Because of this, I thought by participating green card lottery will be the only way for me to visit US as i want to visit US so bad , it is so beautiful. But then, i found an apartment that I can afford and i bought it. Now i don't need to participate the green card lottery anymore as I not really have intention to stay or work in US at all, I participate green card lottery was because if I win it, I can use it to visit US as a tourist.

Now, I have my property, and I am worrying that, if I go to apply non-immigrant visa, will they reject me because of i am participation green card lottery? I have read that, by applying immigrant visa, it is shown that someone has intent to stay and work in US, so he might not get his non-immigrant visa.

So, can any one help me in this case? Again, I just want to visit US, not staying or working. Should I cancel my name from the green card lottery list?

thank you.

[fannsie]

Usafis is positively a scam, but not legally. They just provide a service for you since you probably are not familiar with a government site called dvlotterydotstatedotgov (can

[auroraadler]

Omg, it's weird that I came across this post, since I JUST got a call from some usafis lady in New York!
I applied to this usafis thing day-before primarily as a joke. (Yes, im still young enough to play pranks...) I, like many (all?) Canadians, have absolutely no desire to live in the US =p And i was already aware of the Diversity Visa offered by the US Government whose online application is completely FREE. So I filled in an entirely false application....different name, different nationality, different occupation, etc. However, I DID give them my Singapore phone number since I wanted them to call me I'm only in Singapore for a few weeks, so when I leave, that number will be defunct =p Clearly this was all in jest...

When this lady called, I was napping. So at first I didn't know what was going on. (I had completely forgotten that I'd even applied!) But in a few minutes I was back to my senses and decided to play along...different accent and all, too =) I was waiting for her to bring up the payment issue. Which she eventually did. So she told me I should apply for some 4-year package, which would cost me $309. (AS IF!) Then she told me that payment was done through credit card, and asked me to "take a look at my credit card." It seemed like she was gonna ask me for my card details OVER THE PHONE! So, when she asked me where the card was issued from, I said...and this was the randomest, most uncommon, place I could think of in 2 seconds....Sri Lanka. !!!! Her voice immediately lost its excitement and she said, "Im sorry, but my manager just told me that we don't accept cards from that country. Do you have another card from, say, Singapore?" And I was like, "No," in a really disappointed tone. And then she said, "Im sorry. Have a nice day!" and hung up! She spoke to me for 13mins, and the minute the money issue doesn't work out, she hangs up!

People, this organization is definitely a scam! I followed up with some "research", (thus how I discovered this post), and turns out usafis belongs to an Israeli (sigh) private company. *Lol these Jews!* And to think im one of them. Sigh. Andre, Sy2003, I feel for you guys. If you ever want to do anything of this sort again, always always go to the official government website. There's only one of them. And read the fine fine print a million times before making any monetary transactions. I hope your dreams of visiting/living in America come true =) But in the meantime...why not try Canada Hehe..

[augie]

Welcome aboard auroraadler and thanks for registering to post your experiences and for doing your homework to find this 4 year old thread! As a fellow Canadian I wouldn't move there as I like it here except that I get cabin fever around this time every year and would love to go south until the snow melts.

[Michael Jons]

What you all need to understand is that USAFIS is not a scam people. I have many friends who have entered the american green card lottery with my help, and all i can say that after thorough research, i have found USAFIS to be an organization which not only help people win the american green card lottery but also helps them complete the consular process (which cuts down 50% of the winners). They gave me valuable services, calling me a week after entering a friend into the lottery with my credit card. I was very happy to know that my friend was selceted to become their newest VIP member out of thousands, and of course i was obliged to pay an additional (and of course final) investment. After learning of their strict sexcurity system (SSL) i willingly gave them the full dsetails of my credit card and had my friend on his way to the US. Thanks USAFIS!!
P.S. I'd also like to thank Senior supervisor Dean Johnson for offering his assistance into "closing the deal" for me.