DV Lottery scams to avoid

How the DV Lottery really works

Knowing the real process makes scams easy to spot. According to the official DV-2026 instructions, published in the Federal Register:

• You enter online, on the State Department's own website, during the registration period. There is no paper form and no office that takes entries.
• The law allows one entry per person in each entry period. If more than one entry is submitted for the same person, every one of them is disqualified.
• Winners are picked at random by computer. Being "registered by an agent", paying more or entering early makes no difference.
• After you submit, you get a confirmation page with a unique confirmation number. Keep it yourself: you need it to check your result.
• Results are only shown through Entrant Status Check on dvprogram.state.gov. The instructions say the U.S. government has never sent emails telling people they were selected.

Entering DV-2026 cost nothing. For DV-2027, news reports describe a $1 registration fee paid on the official form when you enter; registration had not opened as of 22 October 2026 (U.S. Embassy in Samoa). If a fee is introduced, it is paid on the official website itself, never to a person or a private site.

Nine warning signs of a DV scam

1. A message saying you won. Emails, SMS, WhatsApp or Facebook messages claiming you were selected are fake, because selectees are not notified that way.
2. A request to pay to "release" your result, process your visa, book a flight or reserve your place. Real DV fees are never paid this way.
3. Payment by money transfer (Western Union, mobile money, gift cards, cryptocurrency) or into a personal account. The instructions say not to send DV fees by mail, Western Union or any delivery service.
4. A website that doesn't end in .gov, or one that copies the look of the official site and asks you to "register" or pay.
5. An agent who keeps your confirmation number or your printout. The instructions warn that some facilitators hold on to it and then demand money or worse.
6. A promise to increase your chances, a "guaranteed" green card or a "VIP" entry. Selection is random.
7. An offer to "correct" or "upgrade" a submitted entry for a fee. A submitted entry can't be edited, and a second entry disqualifies you.
8. Social media pages using U.S. embassy logos that ask you to message them privately or pay a "processing" fee.
9. Pressure and secrecy: "pay today or lose your visa", or "don't tell anyone". Real deadlines are on the official site, and you can always check with the embassy.

Agents and cyber cafés

Many people enter with help from a relative, a friend or a cyber café, and that's allowed. What matters is that you stay in control:

• Watch the form being filled in, and check every name, date of birth and family member before it is sent.
• Make sure the photos are of you and your family, taken recently, and not copied from an earlier entry: reusing a photo from a previous year's entry makes you ineligible.
• Get the confirmation page and number yourself, printed or as a screenshot on your own phone. Never leave it with the helper.
• Pay only for the help you actually received (typing, printing), never for "winning".

If a helper refuses to give you your confirmation number, assume something is wrong.

Which fees are real

Costs such as the medical exam, passport and police certificates come later and are explained in the official instructions for selectees. Nobody can sell you a selection, a faster interview or a "guaranteed" visa.

Photo services and your data

Some services charge for a "DV photo" and then reuse old photos, edit faces with filters or keep copies of your pictures and passport. A wrong photo can cost you the visa later, so it's worth doing it right yourself:

• Take a new photo against a white wall, in daylight, with no glasses.
• Make it with the DV Lottery Photo tool and test it with the DV Photo Checker. Both run on your own phone; the photo is never uploaded.
• Never send scans of your passport or ID to strangers on chat apps "to check your eligibility".

The DV photo requirements guide lists every official photo rule.

If you've been targeted

• Stop paying. Scammers often come back with a second and third "fee".
• Don't send more documents or personal details.
• Keep the evidence: messages, phone numbers, receipts and website addresses.
• Check your real status yourself with Entrant Status Check on dvprogram.state.gov.
• Report it to the police and to the U.S. embassy or consulate in your country; their websites list how to contact them. Warn friends and family, since the same scam usually targets many people.

Safe-entry checklist

• Entered on dvprogram.state.gov, nowhere else
• One entry per person, with your spouse and all eligible children listed
• New photos for everyone, taken in the last 6 months
• Confirmation number saved by you
• Results checked only through Entrant Status Check
• No money sent to anyone who contacted you about the DV