Costa Ricans Scammed Of
Their "American Dream"
For the last several
months a group or groups
of scam artists have
been robbing Costa
Ricans and other
foreigners of their
dream of their American
dream with promises of
visas to the United
States in return for
large payments of the
cash.
Classified ads have
appeared in the local
print newspapers
promising quick
processing of their visa
application or a work
visa in the United
States. The payment for
the service can be as
high as us$2.500 or more
for a visa that never
materializes.
The American dream for
many represents a better
life, filled of economic
prosperity.
The fraud unit at the
U.S. embassy in San José
says it had detected a
number of scams being
perpetrated on citizens,
who visit the embassy to
pick their promised
visas, only to find out
that they have been
scammed.
The classified ads
appear with phone number
and are attended by
persons who promise to
process a work visa to
the United States in
days, eliminating the
process of an
appointment that can
take weeks and an
interview with embassy
officials.
Callers are asked to
make a deposit to a bank
account and are told
that once the deposit is
confirmed their visa
will be ready in a
matter of days, except
the phone number no
longer is answered or if
answered, the caller is
told that they have the
wrong number.
Authorities say that
they have a difficult
time tracking down the
scam artists as they
using telephones and
bank accounts belonging
to third parties, who
appear to have no direct
relationship to the
scam.
Costa Rican authorities
and officials of the
U.S. embassy are
cautioning people not to
respond to the
classified ads to avoid
being scammed. |
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