Public Announcements

NIV Visa Scam Warning

03/16/04

Greetings from the US Embassy Freetown.  

The following message is being sent to all Americans in Sierra Leone on Monday, March 16, 2004.

 We have received increased reports regarding a Non-Immigrant Visa (NIV) application scam targeting Sierra Leoneans. While most of the NIV scams perpetrated against Sierra Leoneans can be characterized as relatively unsophisticated ploys by local con artists operating on the streets of Freetown, we have encountered one scam that successfully duped several Sierra Leoneans out of significant amounts of money via e-mail.

We have reason to believe this particular scam has also most likely duped unsuspecting victims in other African countries as well (we have seen both English and French versions of the E-mail).  The NIV application e-mail scam requests that the victims send a cash deposit to attend conferences in Guinea-Bissau and the United States. The NIV application e-mail scam informs its victims the conference "organizers" have arranged for the necessary NIVs required to travel to the United States, and that "All documents will be processed here in the United States before your visit to the U.S. Embassy in your country." Also included with the e-mail is a USDoS DS-156 Non-immigrant Visa Application form word document attachment. 

Several Sierra Leoneans have fallen victim to the e-mailed NIV application scam.  Some victims have reported losing significant sums of money to this scam (ranging from 1,500.00 to 3,000.00 USD).  The lost funds were solicited from the victims by the perpetrators of the scam as deposits for hotel reservations.  The perpetrators of the scam told their victims that they could only accept cash deposits sent via "MoneyGram.

The U.S. Embassy takes this opportunity to remind all American Wardens of the following:

1. U.S. visas of any type are only issued directly by the Embassy’s Consular Section, and does not involve the services of advocates, facilitators or other outside parties;
2. Ignore all unsolicited offers to assist you in obtaining any type of visa to travel to the United States.  If you receive such and offer, contact the U.S. Embassy before taking any action;
3. Do not send money to strangers promising you smoothing which is “to good to be true.”  This is most likely a trick and you could loose your money.   

PLEASE SHARE THIS MESSAGE WITH AS MANY AMERICANS AS POSSIBLE.

We remind that our telephone numbers for American citizen emergencies are 226 481 and after-hours for the Duty Officer, 227 998.