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.