Hundreds of thousands of people want to come annually to North America, so it is no surprise that opportunities such as the Green Card Lottery are used - as duplicates by the scammers - to lure people into giving away their lifetime savings.

The fraudsters set up websites claiming to be authorized representatives of the US Government and then create believable testimonials on social networking sites. “Green Card now on Facebook” or “Follow us on Twitter”, the scammers might use.

The fake pages are very similar to the genuine ones and several people fall victim to this, paying thousands of dollars for “applications” and “processing” fees for the Green Card.

How to avoid: the only authority that deals with the Green Card Lottery is the United States Department of State (www.dvlottery.state.gov) and they don’t have agents working on their behalf. The only fee you have to pay is if you get selected to be given a US Green Card - and you are informed by regular mail, by USDS.