RICHMOND, Va. (WHSV) – You’ve won the lottery!” It’s something that many people want to hear. But sometimes those words come from scammers trying to steal your money.
They may try to get you to pay them a “fee” or “taxes” to collect a non-existent prize, or they may try to get your bank account number, claiming they’ll wire prize money into it.
Although scams using the lure of a fake lottery win are, unfortunately, not uncommon, the Virginia Lottery says it has noticed a recent uptick in reports of them.
Fake lottery scams take many forms. In most cases, the criminals try to convince intended victims they have won a large prize. They might falsely identify themselves as being with the Virginia Lottery or a familiar game, such as Mega Millions or Powerball.
The Virginia Lottery’s Protect Your Play campaign seeks to inform consumers, not just about fake lottery scams, but also how to protect themselves from various types of fraud.
The Virginia Lottery says the best defense for consumers is awareness. Many of these scammers operate overseas in areas where American law enforcement may not be able to reach them. So, if a victim sends money, there’s a good chance it will never be recovered.
If the victim is fooled into thinking he or she has won a prize, the criminals reportedly often try to get the person to send them money or personal information. Another trick is to send the winner a bogus “check” and ask the winner to send money back to cover expenses. It…
