UNEXPECTED PRIZE & LOTTERY SCAMS

Unexpected prize and lottery scams work by asking you to pay some sort of fee in order to claim your prize or winnings from a competition or lottery you never entered.

HOW THIS SCAM WORKS

You will receive notification that you have won a lot of money or a fantastic prize in a competition, lottery or sweepstakes that you don’t remember entering.  The contact may come by mail, telephone, email, text message or social media.

The prize you have ‘won’ could be anything from a tropical holiday to electronic equipment such as a laptop or a smartphone, or even money from an international lottery.

To claim your prize, you will be asked to pay a fee. Scammers will often say these fees are for insurance costs, government taxes, bank fees or courier charges. The scammers make money by continually collecting these fees from you and stalling the payment of your winnings.

Alternatively the scammer will collect a premium rate on the phone number you are asked to dial (usually starting with 190). They will try to keep you on the line for a long time in order to clock up a hefty charge, and may even ask you to call a second premium rate number.

The email, letter or text message you receive will ask you to respond quickly or risk missing out. It may also urge you to keep your winnings private or confidential, to ‘maintain security’ or stop other people from getting your prize by mistake. Scammers do this to prevent you from seeking further information or advice from independent sources.

Lottery scams may use the names of legitimate overseas lotteries (often Spanish lotteries), so that if you do some superficial research, the scam will seem real. Some examples of the real Spanish lotteries that the scammers falsely use are Loteria Primitiva and El Gordo.

Real examples of lottery scams:

You may also be asked to provide personal details to prove that you are the correct winner and to give your bank account details so the prize can be sent to you. Scammers use these details to try to misuse your identity and steal any money you have in your bank account.

Sometimes the scammers actually do send a quench for part of your winnings, such as a few thousand dollars of winnings, to trick you into thinking the offer is legitimate. However this cheque will eventually bounce and you will not receive any real payments.

The scammer will take your payment and fail to deliver the prize, or send you something that falls short of the promised prize.