Embassy of the United States Jakarta, Indonesia

The U.S. government welcomes Americans and foreigners. A primary function of any government is to ensure the security of its borders, to make the nation a safe place to live, work, study or visit. The Departments of State and Homeland Security work together to detect and stop fraud in applications for U.S. passports, Consular Reports of Birth Abroad, immigrant visas and nonimmigrant visas. We accomplish this critical goal by following our laws, making both staff and applicants accountable for their actions and decisions, training our staff on fraud detection, maintaining close cooperation with U.S. and Indonesian law enforcement agencies, and deploying our highly trained investigators to conduct interviews and gather information.

The consequences of fraud are extremely serious. If you commit fraud, you have committed a felony under U.S. law. Not only will you lose the benefit that you are seeking, but you may also have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars or rupiah in fines and you may even go to jail. We aggressively pursue fraud cases, referring individuals for prosecution under U.S. and/or Indonesian law.

Reporting Visa Fraud
If you know someone who has committed or who is planning on committing fraud by submitting a false or forged document, making false statements to a Consular Officer, or who plans on working illegally or conducting illegal activity in the United States, you may contact us by e-mailing us at jakconsul@state.gov, faxing us at 385-7189, calling us at 3435-9050 between 730 am to 400 pm, workdays, or by writing us at: U.S. Embassy Jakarta, Consular Section/AFU, 5 Jalan Medan Merdeka, Jakarta 10110 INDONESIA or FPO AP 96520 USA.

If you wish us to keep your identity confidential, be sure to tell us that this is your wish when you contact us.

Listed below are several common internet scams regarding false websites, diversity visa fraud and internet dating scams. Please If you have any questions, please contact us.

Beware of 'Visa Agents' and nefarious 'Travel Agents'
We encourage applicants to be very wary if an agent offers to provide them with false or altered documents such as bankbooks, bank statements, civil registry documents (KK, AN, AK, etc.) or business registration documents (SIUP). Fake documents will not help anyone obtain a visa. In fact, submitting fake documents to us is likely to prevent an applicant from ever obtaining a visa. If one is truly qualified for a U.S. visa, then fake documents are not needed – you only need to give us true, accurate and honest information.

Website Fraud Warning
The Department of State advises the public that only internet sites including the ".gov" indicator are official U.S. government Websites. While many of these U.S. Embassy Websites have the ".gov" indicator in their internet address, a number do not. The Department of State Website does link directly to all U.S. Embassy Websites abroad at www.state.gov . This is the best way to get accurate and correct information. Applicants are advised to be cautious in all dealings with companies that claim to offer any assistance in obtaining U.S. visas. Please note the following:

• Immigration Related Websites: Many other non-governmental Websites (e.g., using the suffixes ".com," ".org" or ".net") provide legitimate and useful immigration and visa related information and services. Regardless of the content of other Websites, the Department of State does not endorse, recommend or sponsor any information or material shown at these other Websites.
• Other Impostor or Fraudulent Websites and Email: A few other Websites may try to mislead customers and members of the public into thinking they are official Websites. These Websites may attempt to require you to pay for services such as forms and information about immigration procedures, which are otherwise free on the Department of State Website, or overseas through the U.S. Embassy Consular Section Websites. Additionally, these other Websites may require you to pay for services. These web sites may contact you by email to lure you to their offer. Additionally, be wary of sending any personal information that might be used for identity fraud/theft to these websites.
• A Few Words about the Diversity Visa Program: Specifically, there have been instances of fraudulent websites posing as official U.S. Government Websites. Some companies posing as the U.S. Government have sought money in order to "complete" lottery entry forms. Applicants selected in the Diversity Visa random drawing are notified by the Department of State, Kentucky Consular Center, and provided instructions on how to proceed to the next step in the process. No other organization or company is authorized by the Department of State to notify Diversity Visa lottery applicants of their winning entry.

How Do I Report Internet Fraud or Unsolicited Email?
If you wish to file a complaint about Internet fraud, please see the econsumer.gov website, hosted by the Federal Trade Commission, which is a joint effort of consumer protection agencies from 17 nations or go to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Internet Fraud Complaint Center.

Internet Dating Scams
United States citizens should be alert to attempts at fraud by persons who profess friendship or romantic interest over the Internet. Correspondents who quickly move to discussion of intimate matters could well be scammers. If they are after your money, eventually they will ask for it.

Once a connection is made, the correspondent typically asks the U.S. citizen to send money for living expenses, travel expenses, or "visa costs." Sometimes, the correspondent notifies the American citizen that a close family member has suffered an “accident” and is in need of immediate monetary assistance to cover medical bills. Other variations of this confidence scam have emerged of late, all with the principle goal of soliciting money from the U.S. citizen. Several Americans have reported losing thousands of dollars through such scams.

The anonymity of the Internet means that the U.S. citizen cannot be sure of the real name, age, marital status, nationality or even gender of the correspondent. In the majority of cases reported to the U.S. Government, the correspondent turned out to be a fictitious person created only to lure the U.S. citizen into sending money.

• U.S. citizens may refer to http://www.uscis.gov for authoritative information about the immigration process and the true costs involved.
• They may arrange to prepay for a plane ticket directly with the carrier rather than wiring money for transportation to the traveler.