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Say you hear or read the words: “You’ve won!” What will you do with your winnings? Who wouldn’t be excited to win a prize, sweepstakes, or lottery? But…did you actually win? And how do you know? Sweepstakes, prize, and lottery frauds are among the top scams people report to the FTC.
May 5, 2021 · The good news is that there are ways to tell you’re dealing with a scam. Here are three signs of a prize scam: You have to pay to get your prize. But real prizes are free. So if someone tells you to pay a fee for "taxes," "shipping and handling charges," or “processing fees” to get your prize, you’re dealing with a scammer.
- Check For The Warning Signs of Sweepstakes Scams
- Use A Search Engine to Check Out Your Prize
- Verify Your Prize Win with The Sponsor
- Check Consumer Fraud Reporting's Website
- Recognizing PCH Scams
Many scammers use common tricks to convince their victims to hand over money or personal information. These include asking for "money for taxes" before releasing the prize or putting pressure on their victims to act quickly so they won't have time to realize they are being scammed. Before you respond to any prize notification, brush up on the warni...
Scammers have a more difficult time tricking victims now everyone has the power of the internet at our fingertips. By running the sponsor and sweepstakes name through a search engine like Google or PCH Search and Win, you can often discover whether a win notification is fake or a scam. When you run the name of the giveaway through a search engine, ...
A foolproof way to determine if your prize notification is real is to reach out to the sponsor directly. Start by checking to see who sent the notification; it might be the company offering the sweepstakes or it could be a judging agencylike Hello World or Don Jagoda Associates. Then, find the sponsor's contact information using a telephone directo...
ConsumerFraudReporting.orgmaintains useful tools to help you recognize a sweepstakes scam. These include a list of names and aliases commonly used by scam artists, examples of scam emails, and a list of legitimate lotteries. 1. List of Prize, Sweepstakes, and Lottery Scams 2. Names of Legitimate Lotteries 3. Sample Sweepstakes Scam Emails Compare y...
Because Publishers Clearing House is well known for big giveaways, they're a frequent target of scams. Swindlers misuse the PCH name to convince you that you've won millions of dollars when you haven't. To fight scams using their name, Publishers Clearing House follows some very specific guidelines for notifying winners. By familiarizing yourself w...
- Sandra Grauschopf
Sep 27, 2023 · Here are some signs to watch out for: You’re informed that you’re a winner. Still, you didn’t enter any contest: Scammers often use social media, email, text messages, and letters to contact their victims, informing them that they’ve won a prize or lottery.
Mar 5, 2021 · The scammers may claim to be from the government. Or an official-sounding organization. They make wild claims about big winnings, and demand payment up front. If you get a call like this, hang up. You probably already know that. But you may know someone who doesn’t.
If anyone asks for money before delivering a prize, it is likely a scam. The research is an update of BBB’s 2018 in-depth investigative study, Sweepstakes, Lottery and Prize Scams: A Better...
Dec 21, 2020 · December 21, 2020. (Getty Images) Who doesn’t want $500 in gift cards, free groceries, or designer clothes? When budgets are tight, it’s easy to be tempted by a phony social media giveaway. But...
