The Pennsylvania Lottery has been named in a newly-reported email scam.
In a media release from the lottery, they said the scam is an email scam that tells unsuspecting victims that they have won a million dollars in cash and prizes and asks the victim to contact a “claims officer” through an email account not based with the lottery or the state to claim the prize or through a phone number in the 281 area code. Scammers will falsely claim to represent the lottery, sometimes using names of actual lottery officials, and may offer a badge number or mention lottery games by name in their effort to try and sound legitimate.
First off, the lottery advises that they would never randomly contact someone out of the blue, and would only contact someone if they had entered a second-chance contest of some sort. Some of the scam emails will have several typos, which should also serve as a red flag. Other red flags will be to buy a pre-paid credit card to pay an upfront “processing fee” or taxes on the prize, being asked for personal financial information or if you’re asked to keep the win a secret.
Lottery officials say that if it looks suspicious, have it checked out and use the resources at www.palottery.com to help you in your research. As many of these scammers are located outside the US, it would be difficult for US law enforcement to try and catch them.
