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Introduction to lottery scams

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2018 6:28 pm
by Dr Sheldon Cooper
Lottery scams are a variation of Advance Fee Fraud scams where the promised reward is the winnings of a lottery (usually millions of dollars, but often also cars etc.).

The scammer will usually write, claiming to be a representative of the lottery company, telling the victim that they are the winner of a lottery and asking them to contact a claims agent or a courier who will deliver the winnings. The scammer (as the courier/agent) will then tell the victim that there are fees that need to be paid in order to receive their winnings.

You can tell you are dealing with a lottery scammer if:
  • you have not entered the lottery, bought a ticket or registered on an online lottery site.
  • the lottery is based overseas, and you are not a citizen or resident of that country.
  • the email says that winners were selected at random from their email addresses, through a computer ballot, or from an online directory.
  • you are told that the winnings will be delivered by courier.
  • the email mentions a fee or payment of any kind, or a claims agent.
  • the email asks for secrecy and threatens you with disqualification if you breach the confidentiality.
  • you are told that the lottery is being run by Microsoft, Pepsi, BMW, Yahoo or other private companies.