Unexpected prize & lottery scams

Unexpected prize and lottery scams trick you into paying a fee to claim a prize or winnings from a competition or lottery you never entered.

How This Scam Works

You will be notified that you have won a substantial amount of money or a fantastic prize in a competition, lottery, or sweepstake you don’t recall entering. This notification could come via mail, telephone, email, text message, or social media.

The supposed prize could range from a tropical vacation to electronic devices like a laptop or smartphone, or even money from an international lottery.

To claim your prize, you will be asked to pay a fee. Scammers often claim these fees are for insurance, government taxes, bank fees, or courier charges. They make money by continuously collecting these fees from you while delaying the delivery of your winnings.

The email, letter, or text message you receive will urge you to respond quickly to avoid missing out and may ask you to keep your winnings private or confidential to ‘maintain security’ or prevent others from mistakenly claiming your prize. This tactic aims to stop you from seeking advice or verifying the legitimacy of the prize with independent sources.

Lottery scams often use names of legitimate overseas lotteries (such as Spanish lotteries like Loteria Primitiva and El Gordo) to appear genuine. A quick search might make the scam seem real because these lotteries do exist.

You might also be asked to provide personal details to prove you are the correct winner and to share your bank account information for the prize transfer. Scammers use this information to steal your identity and any money in your bank account.

Sometimes, scammers send a cheque for part of your winnings, like a few thousand dollars, to make the offer seem legitimate. However, this cheque will eventually bounce, and you will not receive any real payments.

Ultimately, the scammer will take your payment and fail to deliver the prize, or they will send you something far less valuable than what was promised.

A newer version of this scam involves scammers accessing someone’s social media account and contacting extended family members (like aunts and cousins) to tell them they have all won money. They then provide an email address for instructions on how to claim the prize. This version is particularly insidious as it exploits the trust between family members to successfully scam people out of their money.