Virginia Lottery Offers Tips To Avoid Scams As Officials See Uptick In Fraud

VIRGINIA — Officials with the Virginia Lottery are seeing an increase in reports of lottery scams, where scam artists try to convince people they have won a large prize.

Lottery scams often target older people and have been known to wipe out victims’ retirement savings.

Scammers might falsely identify themselves as being with the Virginia Lottery or a familiar game, such as Mega Millions or Powerball, lottery officials said Monday.

The scammer will then try to get the victim to pay them a “fee” or “taxes” to collect a non-existent prize. Or they might claim they will wire the prize money as long as the victim provides personal information like his or her bank account number.

The Virginia Lottery said there are some occasions, such as online lottery wins, when Virginia Lottery officials will contact players to inform them they have won. For the majority of prizes, though, the Virginia Lottery does not proactively contact winners. Instead, the Virginia Lottery waits for a player to visit one of its offices to redeem a winning ticket.

Many of these scammers operate overseas in areas where U.S. law enforcement agencies may not be able to arrest them. If a victim of lottery fraud sends money to one of these scammer, there is a good chance it will never be recovered, the Virginia Lottery said.

The Virginia Lottery has put together a list of tips that can prevent residents from being scammed:

• If someone says you have won a lottery that you have never played, be suspicious. You cannot win a legitimate lottery if you didn't buy a ticket or enter a lottery promotion.
• No real lottery tells winners to put up their own money in order to collect a prize they have already won. If you must pay a fee to collect your winnings, you have not won.
• If you are called, check the caller’s area code. If it is from a foreign country, that is a red flag. However, be aware that some con artists use technology that allows them to disguise their area code. Although it may look like they're calling from Virginia, they could be anywhere in the world.
• Be suspicious if an email contains misspellings or poor grammar.
• If you are told that you need to keep your "win" confidential, be suspicious.
• Just because a real lottery is mentioned does not necessarily make it a real prize. Someone may be using the lottery's name without its permission or knowledge.
• Never give out personal information or send money unless you verify the company's or solicitor's legitimacy.
• If they offer to wire the “winnings” directly into your bank account, do not give them your bank account information.
• If you are told that you can "verify" the prize by calling a certain number, that number may be part of the scam. Instead of calling it, you should look up the name of the lottery or organization on your own to find out its real contact information.
• If you think someone on the phone is trying to scam you, hang up immediately. If you engage them in conversation, you could end up on a list that’s shared with other scammers.

People can call the Virginia Attorney General’s Office's consumer protection hotline at 800-552-9963 if they feel they have been the victim of a lottery scam.

The Federal Trade Commission has more information on fake lottery and other scams. To file a complaint or get free information, call 1-877-FTC-HELP.