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Lottery and Sweepstakes Scams

Scams that trick victims into believing they've won a prize but must pay fees or taxes to claim it, often targeting vulnerable groups with urgent demands for quick action.

Understanding Lottery and Sweepstakes Scams

What are Lottery and Sweepstakes Scams?

Lottery scams often target low-income communities and the elderly, although anyone can encounter this scam. It is important to remember that lotteries often require a fee to participate, such as purchasing a lottery ticket whereas many times participation in sweepstakes may be free.

Regardless of how one participates, the goal of the scam is to trick the victim into thinking they’ve won and need to pay a collection fee or taxes upfront to claim the remaining, substantial prize and/or winnings.

Red Flags of Lottery and Sweepstakes Scams

You didn’t purchase a lottery ticket or enter a sweepstakes contest.
Demands for payment to cover expenses associated with potential shipping of a prize or upfront taxes.
You receive an unsolicited check in the mail.
While many winners receive payment via check, one would first engage with the company paying the winnings. Unsolicited payments, especially in check form are likely counterfeited, fake and/or stolen and you could be liable for attempting to deposit them.
The notification received advising of the winnings addresses the victim as sir or madam and uses other generic greetings and pleasantries (E.G. – “would you kindly”). The message's content may contain grammatical errors and/or the person on the phone may not have a great connection or language barriers.
Important to note, not all scams originate outside of the United States rather simply being aware to additional red flags can provide benefit in scam detection.
A false sense of urgency is created.
Victims of scams are often pressured to act quickly to disrupt their logical thought process. Do not be pressured into acting quickly.