---

Beware of “Government Imposter” websites

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Consumer Action is warning consumers about websites or emails that falsely suggest that they are official government sites for immigration, tax filing, social security, and other government services. Often, these scam websites charge outrageous amounts for filing applications that are free.

These impostor sites are designed to look official by using images of the American flag, Statue of Liberty, White House, or pictures of the President. Some sites list a Washington D.C. mailing address. Other impostor websites use names that sound similar to a government agency, such as "Immigration Direct" but their web address are missing the “.gov” at the end. Only official U.S. government websites will have addresses that end in “.gov.”

By pretending to be the part of the U.S. government, these impostor sites trick consumers into revealing personal information and expose the consumer to identity theft. These scam websites often ask for personal documents such as birth certificates, passports, driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, or other government-issued documents to be mailed to the for-profit entity as part of the application. Such action could result in identity theft or fraud.

Many for-profit websites claim that applications for visas, passports, social security, government grants, or financial aid, etc. are impossibly time-consuming, complicated or confusing. The business proposes to walk you through the process for a fee, without mentioning that its instructions are nearly always inferior to those available for free on the government site. Often, businesses that seek to charge consumers expensive fees to file applications that are free will buy up the .com web address of the legitimate, .gov site. This is the case, for example, for student loan applications. Unless a prospective borrower goes the legitimate site, www.fafsa.gov, he or she could pay at least $79.99 to file a free application if they went to the unaffiliated, .com site. In many cases, even when you pay for the expensive “service,” a hard copy with supporting documents still needs to be delivered to the U.S. government agency. This could also expose your personal information to identity theft.

There are dozens of scam artists and impostor sites that try to swindle prospective immigrants seeking to enter the United States’ free green card lottery. Although the legitimate site for the Diversity Visa is www.dvlottery.state.gov, scammers build websites with addresses that use variations of “green card,” “Diversity Visa,” “USA” or “lottery,” then cheat users through bogus “application fees,” which often exceed $100. Paying these fees does nothing to improve the applicant’s chance of being awarded a Green Card. In fact, going through third-party sites often reduces one’s chances of winning a green card, because some sites will submit multiple applications, which will automatically invalidate the individual’s lottery entry.

To protect yourself:

• Check the website to see if the address ends in ".gov"
• Government forms and instructions are free. Beware of any site that charges for the blank forms.
• Contact Consumer Action’s Hotline at 415-777-9635 or http://www.consumer-action.org/hotline/complaint_form/ if you have questions about suspicious sites.

Consumers who believe they are victims of impostor government websites should contact their state attorneys general and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.ic3.gov).

On its website, Consumer Action offers many free multilingual publications on how to protect yourself from frauds and scams. Click here to browse the publications.

Emails that claim to be from the IRS but do not begin with "http://www.irs.gov" should be forwarded to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).