Lottery Scams: How to Spot a Fake Prize and Where to Report It

Spotting a fake lottery win is easier than scammers hope. The simplest rule: a real prize never costs money to collect. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says real prizes are free, and Mega Millions points out that you can’t win a real lottery without buying a ticket. So if a message says you’ve won and asks you to pay first, it’s a scam. Check the claim through official channels and report the contact to the FTC.

Three signs of a prize scam

The FTC lists three giveaways:

1. You’re asked to pay to get your prize. Scammers call it “taxes,” “shipping and handling charges,” “processing fees” or “customs duties.” Real prizes are free.
2. You’re asked to pay for a better shot at winning. Real sweepstakes are free, and winners are chosen by chance. The FTC says it’s illegal to make you pay for that.
3. You’re asked for financial or personal information. Claiming a prize this way never requires a bank account number, a credit card number or your Social Security number. Skip replying, and don’t click links in the message.

Common tricks

The FTC describes how scammers dress up a fake prize to look real:

• Posing as the government: They invent official-sounding names like the “National Sweepstakes Bureau,” or claim to be from a real agency such as the FTC. The government won’t call you demanding money to collect a prize.
• Using names you know: They pretend to be well-known companies or lotteries. Mega Millions says an email or phone call about a win is a scam if you never bought a ticket. The California Lottery says people impersonate it too, often with unexpected calls, texts or direct messages asking for payment or gift cards.
• Foreign lotteries: The FTC says messages about foreign lotteries almost certainly come from scammers. It adds that U.S. citizens are not allowed to play foreign lotteries.
• Pressure to act now: They say the offer is about to expire so you don’t stop to think.
• Fake checks: They send a check and ask you to send part of the money back. The bank can take weeks to find out a check is fake, and then you have to repay the money.
• Payments that are hard to trace: They ask you to wire money through a company like Western Union or MoneyGram, or to pay through an app, in cash, with gift cards or in cryptocurrency. These payments are hard to trace and hard to get back.
• Mass mailings: The same “you’re a winner” message goes to many people. A bulk-rate postmark on a letter is a clue.

How to check a prize

• Find contact details yourself: The FTC suggests looking up the organization’s real contact information on your own instead of using the phone number or link in the message.
• Know how real lotteries contact you: The California Lottery says its staff will mention claim details that only you and the lottery know, and point you to its official channels so you can confirm.
• Search for complaints: Search the name of the company or contest with words like “scam” or “complaint.”
• Check your ticket yourself: Real wins start with a ticket you bought. Check it with our ticket checker or on your state lottery’s website. Our state pages link to each official lottery.

If you already paid

Contact your bank, card company or payment service as soon as you can. Scammers pick payment methods that are hard to reverse, so the sooner you reach out, the better. The FTC has steps for getting your money back after a scam.

Where to report a lottery scam

The FTC recommends these steps:

• Tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
• Contact your state attorney general and your local consumer protection office.
• Report mail scams to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service if the offer came by mail.
• Visit IdentityTheft.gov if a scammer used your personal information.
• Tell friends and family so they know what to look for.

If a scammer claims to be your state lottery, you can also tell the lottery directly. For example, California Lottery Customer Service is at 1-800-LOTTERY (1-800-568-8379).

And if you really did win, congratulations! Our guide on what to do if you win walks you through the next steps.