Foreign Lottery Scam targets unsuspecting victims

  • Published
  • By Capt. Andrew Norton
  • Assistant Staff Judge Advocate
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The Scam: You've won a large sum of money in a foreign lottery you don't remember entering. You receive an official-looking letter notifying you that you've won a foreign lottery and have only a few days to claim your prize. However, to claim the prize you first have to pay the taxes and handling fees. You pay the taxes and fees. There is no prize.

The letters come from legitimate-sounding lottery companies and include a detailed description of how the "lucky winner's" name was included in the drawing, the ticket number, claim number, and instructions for how to collect the prize money. The letter also includes phone numbers, fax numbers, addresses and even websites that have been designed to make the operation seem legitimate. It is nearly impossible distinguish between this fraudulent information and real lottery companies. In one letter, the con artist used the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, a real lottery company in New Brunswick, Canada and even included their real address in the letterhead. The only difference in the letter was the phone number, which was from an area code in Ontario . . . over 1000 miles away from the Atlantic Lottery headquarters!

Another common theme in this scam is the repeated cautions to keep matters confidential until the final payout is made, "as part of our security protocol." The con artists don't want their victims talking about their good fortune with their friends lest they find out it's a scam before the con artists have emptied their bank accounts.

Some letters are accompanied by a check intended to cover taxes and other expenses. The checks appear real and when they have been cleared by a financial institution and the money made available, it seems safe to pay the fees to the lottery company. However, after the victim pays the fees, the bank informs the victim the check was worthless and they are out the amount they wired to the lottery company.

How to protect yourself:
1. You shouldn't have to pay before getting your winnings in a legitimate sweepstakes.
2. Sponsors of legitimate contests identify themselves prominently.
3. Bona fide offers disclose the terms and conditions and usually, the odds of winning.
4. It's unlikely that you've won a big prize if your notification was mailed by bulk rate.
5. Be suspicious of telemarketers who say you've won a contest you didn't enter.
6. Con artists like to ask you to send a money order or check by overnight delivery.
7. Scammers often use a variation of a recognizable name to give confidence in the offer.
8. Read any written solicitation you receive carefully. The devil is in the details.
9. Contact your local Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org) and the Florida Attorney General Consumer Protection (myfloridalegal.com/consumer) for fraud alerts.