Scammer asks for payment
The Pennsylvania Lottery issued a warning to customers on Monday about a scam that has been popping up around the state. In it, a caller originating from Jamaica is targeting residents of the Commonwealth, try to garner payment in exchange for a pretend lottery prize.
People who have reported the scam to the Pennsylvania Lottery say that the caller has a Caribbean accent. This person tells the target that they have won a Mega Millions sweepstakes or some other lottery prize, but of course, this is all just a lie. There is no prize.
Now, that in and of itself isn’t so bad. At that point, it’s just a waste of time and perhaps a mean way to disappoint someone who thinks they won something. The sinister part is that the caller then asks the target for payment to cover taxes or other costs. It is essentially a take on the “Nigerian prince scam,” asking for advance payment for money that does not exist.
Lottery gives tips on spotting this specific scam
“Unfortunately, these types of scams are quite common — especially during times of crisis, such as a pandemic, when people may be vulnerable,” said Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko.
He added that the only times the Lottery would contact someone is if they won a Second-Chance Drawing, some sort of giveaway that they entered, or to “collect their winning story.” The Lottery will never call or e-mail a person randomly. Thus, if you didn’t buy a lottery ticket recently or enter a lottery sweepstakes and receive a call saying you won, it’s a scam.
The Pennsylvania Lottery says that to appear more legitimate, scammers often claim to be with the lottery commission and even use the real name of someone who works there, which is easily found on the internet. They might even make up information like a “badge number” to sound more official.
While most scam operations are located outside of the United States, it is not always easy to tell just from caller ID, as they might spoof the phone number to make it appear that it originated in-state.
Other warning signs
The biggest red flag for this scam or any other scam is if the person asks for any sort of payment, payment information, a credit card, or bank account information. Someone offering you a prize is never going require YOU to pay THEM.
Anything that looks like the person contacting you is from another country is a major warning sign, as well. This could be a foreign accent, as is the case with the Pennsylvania Lottery scam, discussion of winnings in a different currency, or poor spelling and grammar in an e-mail.
Additionally, if you are asked to call a number to verify a prize or an e-mail instructs you to click a link, don’t do it. The phone number or link destination is just someone on the other end of the scam. If you aren’t sure if it’s real, look up the number of the lottery yourself or go directly to its website without clicking a link.
Basically, if it sounds too good to be true, if there’s no reason for you to have won something, and if you are asked to pay a fee for your prize, it is a scam.