In Summary: A viral link spreading through WhatsApp has a link that claims to be a way to register for a US Visa Lottery program at no cost. After checking the link and fact-checking the details within the link, we conclude that the link is fake.
A WhatsApp message containing a link with information about application for an America Visa through a Lottery or DV at no cost is going viral. The message also has a notice cautioning applicants to complete the entry form by themselves without a visa consultant, visa agent, or others who offer to help.
Claim
The message reads: “Apply for the American Visa Lottery to relocate to the United States at no cost. *NOTICE: There is no cost to register for the Visa Lottery Program. You are strongly encouraged to complete the entry form yourself without a “Visa Consultant,” “Visa Agent,” or other facilitator who offers to help.
Rating Justification
To verify the authenticity of this link, we first checked the US Department of State-Bureau of Consular Affairs whose mission includes “helping foreign nationals connect with the United States by issuing visas to qualified visitors, workers, and immigrants”.
On the official website, a fraud warning from the Office of Visa Services cautions the public of increasing fraudulent emails and letters sent to Diversity Visa (DV) program (Visa Lottery) applicants.
The US State Department also warns that any visa-related correspondence from a web address that does not end with “.gov” should be considered suspicious.
Meanwhile, registration for the US Diversity Visa Program for 2025 has ended. The process ran from October 4, 2023, to November 7, 2023.
To further verify the link, we clicked it and it took us to a WordPress site which is cloned like the US Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs. The clone is done to convince visitors of the site that it is the official site.
The cloned website has a short form requesting an applicant’s personal information such as name, email, phone number, and address, among others.
Our analysis of the link in the message established that it is different from the link of the site it takes you to and both URLs do not end with “.gov”.
To further verify the links, scan them using the online tool Whois, which reveals the ownership and tenure information of a website domain. The result from the scan shows that both links have the same registrant information with the owner of the domain based in Iceland.
Conclusion
Based on these facts, we conclude that the viral message shared via WhatsApp claiming to be an application for a US Diversity visa is misleading.
Also, the link in the message is fake. t is not an official link of the US Government as it does not end with “.gov”. Further check shows that the owner of the domain is from Iceland.
This report is produced with funding from the USAID Media Activity. The funder has No say in the editorial decisions leading to the production of this content
Many thanks to ok FM for the fact check
These people have been misleading us for a very long time.
But at least,we have a place for truth now!!