USAIS was a scam

It's one of those days.

I've just received an email from the USA FTC containing an alert(PDF) claiming that 'USA Immigration Services' isn't affiliated with the government, that it's principals are in jail and that it is actually free to enter the Diversity Visa Lottery. Interesting given that I applied during the summer and had to pay. Erm. I may have been scammed. The website I used was 'www.usais.org', which has since disappeared. Bugger!

If I want to reapply I have till midnight Tuesday (EST) to get a new application submitted. Given that the main reason for applying was taken from me exactly two weeks after I 'applied' the first time, I'll need to consider whether I want to apply at all.

This is where I should have gone nearly six months ago: U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs, Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery.