Congratulations! You’ve won the lottery!
There’s just one little issue. You don’t remember buying a ticket.
We’ll let you in on a secret: It’s not possible to win a prize for any sweepstake, raffle or lottery that you haven’t entered. Specifically, for Powerball, officials will never call you about a win or make you pay any kind of fees or taxes before you receive your winnings.
Both Powerball and lottery scams in general are a form of fraud. Victims are typically contacted by a scammer telling them they’ve won a big prize. The fraudster does their best to convince you that the win is totally legit. All while trying to extort financial and personal data from you.
It’s scary stuff.
And, while you may be thinking that it’s more the elderly at risk of such scams, think again. According to the Federal Trade Commission’s latest report, it’s millennials that are more vulnerable to lottery scams. The research reports that 40% of adults between the ages of 20 and 29 have reported fraud and a loss of money as a result.
As technology advances, so do scams. Here’s a look at the four lottery scams you need to be aware of this year.
1. Requests for Fees
You receive a rather delightful phone call where you’re told you’ve won a prize in a lottery you never bought a ticket for. (Huh, all that “in it to win it” is a load of rubbish? No, it’s not). The scammer goes on to explain that to receive your payout, you must send over a fee, which will cover expenses involved with delivery, insurance and processing.
Beware! Scammers may even attempt to impersonate a popular and legitimate sweepstake or lottery provider. Check out the official lottery’s terms and conditions, though, and you’ll quickly discover that they never request payment for prizes. Nor do they call or email prize winners—you’ll have to get in touch with them first.
2. Email Wins
Email lottery scams are a classic, but you still need to be aware of them.
Here’s what happens: You wake up, make a cup of coffee, and open an email message to discover you’ve won a massive amount of money. The catch is that you must pay a small fee or two to claim your prize.
That’s awesome, right? After all, what’s a small fee when you’ve just hit the mother lode? Even if you truly can’t recall buying a ticket this week.
Hold on. Before you ditch the job and book a round-the-world ticket, tread cautiously. This online scam is one of the oldest in the book.
3. Unexpected Windfall
This one also revolves around asking for a fee to claim your winnings from a lottery you’ve not entered. Someone contacts you via email, text, mail or telephone informing you of your ever-so-lucky windfall and politely tells you how much it will cost to process the winnings.
The con often includes anything from electronic equipment to a dream holiday or winnings from an international lottery.
The notification usually asks you to respond as quickly as possible or you might miss out. It may even urge you to keep your windfall private as a security measure. Scammers go to such lengths to stop you seeking out further information or advice from other trustworthy sources.
While the message may use a legitimate looking overseas lottery name (often the Spanish Lottery), it just takes a quick bout of authentic research to discover someone’s trying to scam you.
4. The Social Media Scam
We said earlier that as technology advances, so do the scams. One of the newer and somewhat unexpected prize scams doing the rounds this year involves scammers gaining access to your social media account. They then go to lengths to contact your extended family members and tell them that they’ve all hit the jackpot.
The scammer will then provide an email address through which your family can receive further instructions on how to claim their prize.
This is arguablythe most sinister version of all lottery scams since it uses the trust between you and your loved ones to scam people out of their hard-earned dollars.
Don’t Get Caught Out!
The CACF warns us that fraudsters continue to reinvent the scam wheel and develop innovative ways to prey on victims.
Senior citizens in Canada still receive messages, phone calls, emails, and even social media messages claiming they are the lucky recipient of a massive lottery win. But, before any money is handed over, the recipient must pay an upfront fee. The winnings are never paid out.
Don’t become a victim of a lottery scam. Always remember that if you haven’t bought your ticket, there’s no way you can win. And you’ll never be contacted or asked to pay a fee by legitimate lottery companies.
For more information on common scams, their characteristics, and how to avoid them, check out our dedicated Scams and Advice page.