You get a card, call, or email telling you that you won! Maybe it’s a lottery, sweepstakes, or some other prize. The person calling is excited and can’t wait for you to get your winnings.
But here’s what happens next: they tell you there’s a fee, some taxes, or customs duties to pay. They ask for your bank account information, or ask you to send money via a wire transfer or to purchase gift cards and provide the card numbers.
Any way you send it, you lose money instead of winning it. You don’t get a big prize. Instead, you get more requests for money, and more promises that you won big. Scammers can be very convincing, and who wouldn’t want to win big!
Lottery and sweepstakes scams are one of the most common consumer frauds operating today. According to the FTC, these scams were the third-most common type of fraud reported to the agency in 2017.
Earlier this year, the FTC took action against an operation we alleged targeted older people with phony sweepstakes offers. The company sent mailers that made people think they had won $1 million (or more!), and that the recipient only needed to pay a small fee to claim it.
Help us help you and others by using the FTC’s top tips to avoid lottery and sweepstakes scams:
1. Keep your money – and your information – to yourself. Never share your financial information with someone who contacts you and claims to need it. And never wire money to or share gift card numbers with anyone who asks you to. Both payment methods are a sure sign of a scam.
2. Pass this information on to a friend. You probably throw away these kinds of bogus offers or hang up when you get these calls. But you probably know someone who could use a friendly reminder.
3. If you spot a scam, report it to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint. Your report can help FTC investigators identify the scammers and stop them before they steal someone’s hard-earned money.
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The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.
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In reply to I get calls from the so by gahh
In reply to The former director of the by curious S
In reply to I have following victim to by vwilson
You can report that to the FTC at FTC.gov/Complaint. The information you give will go into a secure database that the FTC and other law enforcement agencies use for investigations. The comments you put here on the blog don’t go into the law enforcement database.
In reply to l was scam by the people and by angel,
You can report scams to the FTC at FTC.gov/Complaint. The information you give will go into a secure database that the FTC and other law enforcement agencies use for investigations.
The comments you put here on the blog don’t go into the law enforcement database.
Don't use yvita... FALLEN VICTIM ON MANY OCCASIONS? Once fooled shame on them. Twice fooled shame on you.
In reply to Don't use yvita... by Will
In reply to A Jennifer Silva (LV 702-997 by Donfishfisherm…
If you get a surprise call and someone says you won a huge prize, but they want you to pay THEM - it's probably a scam.
They might say it's for a fee, or taxes or to "register your prize." They might promise to refund your money later. But if you send money, you will probably lose it. And you won't get any prize.
In reply to A Jennifer Silva (LV 702-997 by Donfishfisherm…
In reply to My dad is being scammed and by Dad scammed in VA
Pagination