Ukrainian investigators in cooperation with American authorities have nabbed a group involved in the U.S. Green Card Lottery scam.
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said on October 2 that the group used personal data of Ukrainian citizens in the U.S. congressionally mandated annual lottery program, Diversity Immigrant Visa, without their knowledge.
After receiving the lottery results, the group sold the winners' codes to the unknowing winners for up to $12,000 each. Those who were not able to pay had to give up their property for the group.
Accomplices later met the lottery winners in the United States, depriving them of their immigration documents and organizing their employment to low-paid jobs.
The group consisted of 10 people and their office was operating in Ukraine's western city of Ternopil.
Based on the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's statement