Beware of Lottery Scams
I must be the luckiest person alive. In the past I found out I won 1.5 Million Euros in the UK lottery, One Million Euros in the Winx International Lottery, 1.5 Million Euros in the 2023 E-Mail Lottery, and 500,000 Pounds in an e-mail lottery held by the Coca Cola Company. Wow! What did I do to receive all these riches?
The sad truth is there are actually people who fall for these schemes. For the promise of a quick buck (or million Euros as the case may be) people will turn over their bank account numbers, wire money in the hopes of getting more back, or give other information that could lead to identity theft.
These lottery and sweepstakes schemes have gone on long before the internet, with one of the oldest being the phony sweepstakes which required an entrance fee to claim your prize, which amounted to more than the “prize” was worth. Another variation of that scheme was requiring the potential “winner” to call a certain number to find out if he or she was a winner. The phone call cost the potential “winner” a certain amount per minute with an unusually-long wait time on hold. The real winner was the scamming company which made money off the phone calls.
Today’s thieves have a wide choice of scam-delivery mechanisms, including in person, the mail, phone and internet. However, the same holds true no matter how the scam is delivered: if it sounds too good to be true, it is.
How Can You Recognize the Lottery or Sweepstakes Scam?
There are certainly legitimate lotteries and sweepstakes offers. Who hasn’t bought a state or multi-state lottery ticket from their local lottery retailer? Or, who hasn’t seen one of those sweepstakes offered by a recognized company advertising in the coupon section of the Sunday newspaper? You fill out the entry form or reasonable facsimile (usually a 3”x5” card) with your name and address and send it off.
Therein is your biggest clue as to whether you’re the victim of a scam. In a legitimate lottery or sweepstakes you have bought the ticket or entered your name and address. In a scam lottery or sweepstakes you are notified you’ve won when you haven’t even entered or bought a ticket.
In addition, it’s illegal to use the mail or telephone to play lotteries across borders, whether national or state lines. Any lottery offer involving the purchase of lottery tickets for other state or country lotteries could end up with you being charged with illegal activities.
One ploy used by foreign scammers involving lotteries or sweepstakes is offering you an “advance” on your winnings. The scam artist will send you a check for part of your “winnings.” All you have to do is wire them payment for “taxes” or other official purposes. By the time you find out their check has bounced the money you wired is in their hands. And, because it was wired it’s harder to trace.
Lottery scammers don’t always use e-mail or the phone. Sometimes they do their dirty work in person. A typical scam would go something like this: You are approached in person by someone who claims he or she just won the lottery but isn’t eligible to claim it. They offer to split the money with you if you claim the prize. Sounds good, right? Except that before you claim the prize from the lottery retailer you are required to withdraw some money from your account and give it to the ticket holder as a good-faith gesture. By the time you find out you’re holding a non-winning lottery ticket, the thief is long-gone with your good-faith money.
In order to protect yourself from these scams, it’s important to remember the following:
Lotteries
** It’s illegal to use the mail or telephone to play lotteries across borders. To play a lottery in another state or country you must either travel there, work with a relation that lives there, or employ a reputable ticket purchasing (butler) service to purchase the tickets, collect the winnings if any and send the winnings to you. Expect to pay roughly double the ticket price, so know the price of the ticket where it is sold and the value of your money there, so you’re not buying a ten cent ticket for ten dollars.
** If you ever receive a phone call, letter or e-mail announcing you just won a lottery you didn’t enter and are not holding a ticket for, it’s a scam. No one offers a free lottery selecting winners from some “list” it doesn’t happen, you only won the opportunity to be scammed.
Sweepstakes
** It’s illegal for a company to require you to pay to win or claim a sweepstakes prize.
** It’s illegal for a company to suggest that buying something will improve your chances of winning.
** Companies cannot ask for money from you for taxes they say you owe on a sweepstakes winning.
** Be cautious when entering sweepstakes from displays you see in malls – often times these are people just wanting your name and address for a future sweepstakes scam or are looking for business leads to send their suffering sales people out to sell to.
** Only enter sweepstakes from recognizable companies, and never pay a fee to enter.
US and UK citizens have already been targeted by unscrupulous con men claiming that they had won the Canadian and Spanish lotteries. Unfortunately, many people fell for the scam and lost thousands of pounds as they responded to more and more telephone calls demanding cash to cover taxes and other costs before their ‘winnings’ could be released. The cash may be sent to the scammer but the winnings don’t exist.
It appears that things are getting worse instead of better with the Mega Millions, Powerball, UK National Lotto and EuroMillions being targeted. Also, the scams seem to be getting ever more sophisticated with people being contacted not just via email and telephone calls but by letter and text messaging as well.
These scams succeed because they are run by highly organized criminal gangs who are very professional. Both email and direct mail pieces are very convincing and telephone operators are very confident and reassuring. As always they target the most vulnerable, often the elderly. These people want 2 things:
Your Money
Your identity
So how does the lottery scam work?
THE PITCH:
They offer you something for nothing – such as:
Congratulations you’ve won a major prize in a drawing or a lottery (even though you haven’t entered one). Those who enter a lot of sweepstakes should maintain a list of what they’ve entered.
THE STING
They’ll ask you to:
Send money up front – an administration fee or tax, the list is endless but it’s always a ruse to get you to give them money.
Give them your bank, credit card or other personal details.
How to avoid becoming a lottery scam victim:
Use your common sense! If you didn’t enter a lottery ie buy a ticket up front, you can’t possibly win it.
REMEMBER no legitimate lottery will ask you for any money in order for you to receive winnings.
If in doubt check with the official operators of the sweepstakes the scammers are trying to piggyback on (all of them have warnings about these scams on their sites).
If you have received an email, text, letter or phone call that you believe to be bogus, delete it, throw it away or put the phone down. DO NOT reply in any shape or form. This will only confirm your details and leave you open to further targeting and harassment. DO NOT be tempted to bank any monies that may have be sent as upfront payment. You will be liable.
NEVER reveal any personal, bank or credit card details.
DO seek advice from credible family, friends and other professionals.
Call your state Consumer Affairs:
Lottery scam warning signs include:
The use of hard to trace contact details such as free email addresses (yahoo, hotmail etc) and PO Box numbers.
The approach, whether in writing, by phone, email or text, is unsolicited.
URGENT! A very short time frame in which to respond to claim winnings.
A request for a ‘processing’ or ‘administration’ fee to obtain the winnings.
A request for personal, credit card or bank account details.
They ask you not to tell anyone about the deal.
Always remember that if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. However, despite the publicity surrounding the lottery scam it doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon.
