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DE RUEHYD #1304/01 3060635
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R 020635Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8279
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE 0028
RUEHFT/AMCONSUL FRANKFURT 0578

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YAOUNDE 001304 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FRANKFURT FOR RCO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CMGT CVIS KFRD KPAO ECON CM
SUBJECT: WHICH VISA LOTTERY?  CONSULAR OUTREACH IN CAMEROON 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: Although Embassy Yaounde visa procedures are 
of intense interest to Cameroonians and are readily available 
from multiple sources, they are often distorted in the public 
eye, usually by scam artists who prey on the desperation and 
ignorance of many applicants.  This phenomenon is most 
pronounced in regard to the Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery, 
which the Embassy made the focus of recent consular media 
outreach.  The resulting print and television coverage should 
help mitigate the victimization of Cameroonians by 
unscrupulous "expeditors" - and provide an enlightening 
window into how successful these criminals have been in 
sowing confusion about the visa process.  End Summary. 
 
Who is our audience, and what is our message? 
==================== ======================= 
 
¶2. (U) Although Cameroonians of all ages and walks of life 
play the DV lottery, the bulk of the winners who pursue their 
claim are 20-40, and are often students or young 
professionals.  Accordingly, in addition to broad print and 
television coverage, the consular section generated an 
informational flyer posted at universities, cyber cafes, and 
transportation hubs.  In addition to encouraging 
participation, and giving basic information on website, dates 
etc., the flyer focused on encouraging applicants to follow 
directions and to avoid involvement with, or victimization 
by, visa operators. 
 
Which visa lottery? 
================== 
 
¶3. (U) Among the most surprising questions fielded by the 
Conoffs speaking with the press was the query about how many 
lotteries there are, and which are affiliated with the U.S. 
Government.  According to the interviewers, there is a 
popular misunderstanding that there are multiple lotteries, 
including at least one which includes airfare and 
resettlement services.  Other points of clarification ranged 
from the cost of the program, what the qualifications are, 
and what support is provided by the USG.  Directing 
viewers/readers to the State Department website, Conoffs 
repeatedly reviewed the procedure for initial registration, 
strongly urging applicants to pay only for internet access, 
and to either complete the application or be physically 
present to ensure its proper completion. 
 
Business opportunities gone wrong 
================================= 
 
¶4. (U) Post regularly gets reports of significant abuse that 
fall into three main categories of scams, and which suggest 
that the opportunities for exploitation provide a negative 
counterweight to the goodwill and positive public image that 
is undoubtedly created through this popular program. 
 
¶5. (U) First is the classic e-mail notification that 
"confirms" that a person has won the lottery and instructs 
them to wire money to get their visa or proceed with their 
case.  Amazingly, this works here even if the victim has 
never played the lottery - perhaps because of the ubiquitous 
practice of playing for friends and family without 
necessarily informing them.  Post takes every opportunity to 
inform the public that winners pay ONLY at the Embassy, on 
the day of interview, and that any e-mail notification is a 
fraud.  Postal service in Cameroon is unreliable and 
notification packages are often delayed, but Post has seen 
very little mail fraud, and hopes to see the practice of 
notification exclusively by mail continued, as it offers an 
effective method for Cameroonians to identify a scam. 
 
¶6. (U) Second are the copy-cat and fee-for-service abuses, 
where applicants are conned into paying to enter a lottery 
that doesn't exist, or to pay usurious fees for a 
registration that is frequently done incorrectly, if it is 
ever done at all.  This abuse was the focus of the television 
and print outreach, and post hopes that a broader 
comprehension of the scams will reduce the profitability of 
perpetrating them. 
 
¶7. (U) Third, and most disturbing, is the ransom approach, in 
which a manager of a cyber cafe or other institution 
completes the registration for a reasonable fee or at no 
cost, but provides their own mailing address.  Should an 
applicant win, the winner then has to pay a hefty ransom fee 
to recover the documents.  This is a much harder abuse to 
combat as the public education effort requires more nuance. 
Post fraud investigators have gathered information suggesting 
that some cyber cafes are targeting registrants in the 
current DV2009 lottery.  Post has worked with local police on 
one such case, and is developing an outreach campaign 
 
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targeting cyber cafes that we hope will scare them away from 
the practice. 
 
Comment 
======= 
 
¶8. (U) Despite the opportunistic and malicious abuses that 
have sprung up around the DV program, it remains an alluring 
opportunity that embodies much of what draws Cameroonians to 
immigrate to the U.S. After a long interview on DV fraud and 
a somewhat heated informal discussion with a young, talented, 
foreign-educated journalist about how difficult it was to get 
a tourist visa to visit the U.S., she noted that perhaps this 
year she too would play the DV lottery. 
GARVEY