As luck would have it, I ran into a Chilean named Enrique Arroyo this past week here in Albuquerque's One-Up lounge. When I mentioned that I co-authored "Win the Green Card Lottery", I got an earful.

Enrique entered the diversity visa lottery (DV-2011) in October 2009 using a paid lottery service -- one he randomly picked via a Google search for "green card lottery". Unfortunately, he paid them several hundred dollars via credit card for a 5-year "VIP service" after he received a telephone solicitation.
Then he had an age related eligibility question about a dependent, so he attempted to contact the service several days later. Unfortunately, they did not respond to his repeated attempts to reach them. That's when he became suspicious he may have been scammed.
When I asked Enrique why he didn't just enter himself for free at the official U.S. government site, he said that he wasn't sure where he'd be living in late spring when green card lottery winners are notified by the U.S. government (he's traveling the USA on a tourist visa and unable to receive postal mail). So, he wanted his winning notice and forms packet sent to the lottery service address since they claim they would notify him by telephone or email if he won and forward the package.

But they didn't even provide Enrique with his official 16-digit confirmation number from the U.S. government. With the number he could check his status online to find out if he won.
Since he doesn't know if the service actually sent his application, he can't enter himself for five full years. Otherwise he risks being disqualified for sending multiple entries! That is, assuming the service did send his entry last year and will submit it for the next four years, then he will be disqualified if and when the U.S. State Department detects his other entry.
Had he known about myGreencard.com's little-known green card lottery service reviews, he could have selected an ethical service with good service and reasonable fees.
This year, myGreencard.com is soliciting feedback from lottery service users so they can help rank services. This information will be used to augment the reviews myGreencard.com already provides each year. Here are a few sample questions from their survey:

• How much did you pay (in US dollars)?
• Did you receive complete eligibility data prior to registering?
• Did your lottery service warn you about sending in your application very close to the registration deadline?

So, not only did Enrique vastly overpay but he may be unable to enter the lottery for the next four years. I advised Enrique to either enter himself this year, or use a service recommended by myGreencard.com. Of course, this assumes the service he used in 2009 was indeed a scam site. But since they don't have an extensive list (and pictures) of their lottery winners, or send Enrique his official confirmation number, I believe there is a good chance they didn't enter his application.
If you have an opinion about how the lottery affects immigration or if you have used a specific green card lottery service, please comment. Or fill out myGreencard's green card lottery survey.