Lotteries and Prizes
A popular scam that goes around during the holiday season often comes in the form of unsolicited phone calls, emails, or messages that claim you have won a sweepstake, lottery, or prize. Sometimes, this can extend into claiming to provide heavy discounts on common gift items. Typically, these offers revolve around desirable items such as electronics, cars, or appliances. Remember, if an offer sounds too good to be true, then it probably is!
In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission received 97,472 reports of this type of scam, resulting in $347 million dollars in losses. Through the first two quarters of 2025, there have been 34,845 reports totaling around an additional $181 million dollars.
In prize offers presented by scammers, they often claim that you must pay a fee or tax to cover shipping and handling to obtain the prize. In other cases, like lottery and sweepstakes, they may claim that you must pay to increase your chances of winning a prize. It is also important to note that in real sweepstakes and lotteries, the winner is selected entirely by chance. You cannot pay to increase your chances of winning, requesting that someone pays to increase their chances is illegal. In these scams, it is also common for scammers to request you to provide financial or personal information. This is the biggest red flag! If someone starts asking for these sensitive details for you to obtain a prize or enter a sweepstake or lottery, it is a scam.
Remember that scammers will do everything they can to trick you into believing that you have won this prize so that they can get something out of you! They do this by impersonating a government official or member of a recognizable organization. They also use tactics like pressuring you to act quickly and making the prize feel exclusive and special. In situations utilizing impersonation, always check the information available to you in the email! The first and easiest place to look is the email address that sent the email, it may be far off or close to the real email, if you are unsure, you can always search for the company’s email online! If you wish to learn more about these red flags, you can visit our article about those too!