Lottery scams, and the one rule that stops most of them
No. A real lottery never asks you to pay a fee, a tax or a "customs charge" before releasing a prize, and it never contacts you about a game you did not enter. Advance-fee scams fake the opposite of both. If a message asks for money, a wire transfer or gift cards to unlock winnings, it is fraud, whatever letterhead it uses.
The one rule that catches nearly all of it
Nearly every version of this fraud, however it is dressed up, breaks the same rule. Learn the rule and most of the rest takes care of itself.
Here is the one sentence that ends almost every version of this scam before it starts: you never pay to collect a prize you have actually won. The FTC states this as flatly as a consumer-protection agency states anything. "If you have to pay to get your prize, it's a scam," and separately, "if you have to pay to increase your odds of winning, it's a scam." FTC Consumer Advice, 2024
A real prize does not have a toll gate in front of it. Powerball and Mega Millions pay winners through the state lottery that sold the ticket, after tax withholding is calculated on the payout itself, not billed to the winner up front as a separate charge. There is no fee that stands between a real win and the money.
New Jersey's state lottery puts the same point from the operator's side: it "does NOT know who the winners are until they come forward with a winning ticket," and "NEVER requires the payment of any money in order to claim a prize." New Jersey Lottery, 2025 A message that already knows you won, before you have shown anyone a ticket, has told you something important about itself.
The advance-fee "you've won" scam
The classic version starts with a call, letter, email, text or social-media message telling you that you have won a large prize, often a foreign or unfamiliar-sounding lottery, or one you have no memory of entering. That last detail matters on its own: NASPL's own myth-busting page states plainly that the only way to win a prize is to have bought a ticket for it, so an unsolicited win notice for a game you never entered is already a contradiction. NASPL, 2025
The USPIS describes the mail version of this in detail: foreign-lottery-by-mail solicitations are illegal under U.S. law, victims are told they must pay "taxes and fees" before a prize that does not exist can be released, and the scheme can be strung along for weeks, months or even years as the victim sends payment after payment. USPIS, 2024 Each payment is framed as the very last one standing between the victim and the money. It never is, because there was never any money.
Fake officials, fake letterhead, fake lottery names
Forged federal letterhead
The FBI's Atlanta field office warned that scammers were mailing documents on forged FBI and FDIC letterhead, including fake photos of purported agents, to make a fraudulent Mega Millions win look officially "authenticated." Neither agency provides that kind of authentication for lottery winnings.
Borrowed lottery and trade-association names
NASPL states criminals impersonate NASPL itself, plus Mega Millions, Powerball and individual state lotteries, by phone, email, text and social media, to look like they are contacting you from a real, familiar organization.
Fake sweepstakes brands
The FTC has separately warned that scammers impersonate well-known real sweepstakes operators, such as Publishers Clearing House, specifically because the real brand's name makes the fake prize notice more believable.
A name you did not choose
A message from an official-sounding "National Lottery Commission," "Lottery Claims Office" or similar title that does not match any government agency or the actual game you play is a fabricated name, not a real office.
Wire transfers, gift cards, and the fake overpayment check
| What they ask for | Why it works for them |
|---|---|
| Wire transfer | Fast, hard to trace, and almost impossible to reverse once it lands. |
| Gift cards | Once the card's code is read out over the phone, the funds are effectively gone and untraceable to a bank account. |
| A cashier's check you deposit, then wire part back | The check is a forgery that clears temporarily; by the time your bank reverses it, your own wired money is gone. |
| Cryptocurrency | Similarly fast and very hard to claw back once sent. |
The third row there, a fake overpayment check, deserves its own explanation because it is the most convincing version of this trick. A "prize check" arrives that is larger than the fee it is meant to cover, with instructions to deposit it and wire back the difference as "taxes" or a "processing fee." The check looks real and the bank may even make the funds available for a few days. It is a forgery. When it is finally identified and reversed, days or weeks later, the money already wired out is simply gone, and the victim owes the bank for the deposited amount too.
NASPL states the pattern behind all of this in one sentence: "there is no legitimate reason why anyone would give you a check or money order and ask you to wire money anywhere in return." NASPL, 2025 Any request to send money by wire, gift card or crypto in connection with a prize, in any direction, is the scam operating exactly as designed.
Social-media impersonation of real winners
A newer wrinkle uses real winners, not fictional ones. Scammers copy a real news story or a real winner's name and photo, then run a fake social-media account or a fake "giveaway" post claiming that winner is now handing out money to followers who pay a small fee or share their bank details first. The borrowed credibility of an actual jackpot story is the entire mechanism.
The defense is the same rule as everywhere else on this page. A real winner does not personally run a social-media giveaway that requires you to pay anything to receive a share of it, and a real lottery does not announce winners through a comment thread. Florida's Attorney General lists impersonation of legitimate sources, alongside requests for secrecy and upfront "service fees," as one of the standard red flags of this category. Florida Office of the Attorney General, 2023
Why older people are targeted so often
One of the FTC's own enforcement complaints in this space specifically named elderly consumers as the target: telemarketers sold foreign lottery tickets and falsely told mostly older victims that they had already won, then demanded upfront fees before any winnings would be paid. Federal Trade Commission, 2002
That targeting is not an accident of who happened to answer the phone. Scripts in this category lean on politeness, on trust in official-sounding titles, and on urgency, all of which are easier to exploit in a call that a person takes alone, without someone else in the room to say "hang up." Reviewing this page with a parent or older relative, or agreeing in advance that any "you've won" call gets discussed with someone else before any payment is sent, closes off most of the leverage this pattern relies on.
A practical checklist
- You are being asked to pay a fee, a tax, a customs charge or a "processing charge" before a prize is released.
- The message says you won a game, drawing or sweepstakes you do not remember entering.
- You are told to keep the win secret, or to act fast before an unexplained deadline passes.
- You are asked to wire money, buy gift cards, or send cryptocurrency in connection with a prize, in either direction.
- A check arrived that you are told to deposit and then wire part of it back.
- The sender claims to be the FBI, the FDIC, a lottery, or a sweepstakes company, but contacted you by phone, text, email or social media rather than through a process you started yourself.
Any single item on that list is enough reason to stop and verify independently, using a phone number or website you looked up yourself, not one given to you in the message. Two or more items together is not a coincidence.
Where to report it
| If it happened by... | Report to |
|---|---|
| USPIS, 1-877-876-2455 or uspis.gov | |
| Phone, email, text or general fraud | The FTC, 1-877-FTC-HELP or reportfraud.ftc.gov |
| A forged FBI/FDIC document, or online fraud generally | The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, IC3.gov |
| Anything claiming to be a specific state lottery | That state lottery's own security or fraud unit, and your state Attorney General's office |
USPIS, 2024 New Jersey Lottery, 2025 Florida Office of the Attorney General, 2023 FBI, 2016 Reporting will not usually get money back once it has been wired or loaded onto a gift card, but it feeds the record that lets these agencies build cases and warn the next person before they pay.
How to check a real result, for comparison
The official game sites and each state lottery's own site or app are the authoritative sources for winning numbers. Standard guidance repeated across state lotteries is: do not rely solely on a third-party site to confirm a win — scan or verify the physical ticket at an authorized retailer's terminal, or through your state lottery's official app/site, before assuming a prize is valid, since only the state lottery's system can confirm a ticket actually matches an official drawing and has not already been claimed or voided. Powerball (Multi-State Lottery Association), 2026
A number quoted back to you in the scam message itself proves nothing, because the scammer chose it. The only sources worth trusting are the official game site, your state lottery's own site or app, or a physical ticket scanned at an authorized retailer. Full detail on that exact step is on checking results officially, and what a real claim actually involves, with no fees anywhere in it, is on claiming a prize.
Lottery scams: common questions
What is the single biggest red flag of a lottery scam?
Being asked to pay anything, a fee, a tax or a charge, before a prize is released. The FTC states this as close to an absolute rule as consumer protection gets: if you have to pay to get or improve a prize, it is a scam.
Can I really win a lottery I never entered?
No. NASPL's own position is that the only way to win a prize is to have bought a ticket for it. An unsolicited notice that you won something you never entered is a contradiction on its face.
Why do scammers use fake FBI or FDIC letterhead?
To make a fraudulent win look officially verified. The FBI has directly warned about forged letterhead used exactly this way and states neither agency authenticates lottery winnings.
Is a check I'm asked to deposit and partly wire back a real payment?
No. This is the fake-overpayment scheme: the check is a forgery that clears temporarily, and by the time it bounces, money you wired out is already gone.
Why do scammers specifically target older people?
Documented FTC enforcement in this category named elderly victims specifically. Scripts rely on trust in official-sounding titles and urgency, which are easier to exploit alone than with someone else in the room.
Can scammers impersonate a real lottery winner on social media?
Yes. A copied name, photo or news story can be used to run a fake giveaway that asks followers to pay a fee or share details first. A real winner does not distribute money through a social post.
Where do I report a lottery scam?
USPIS for anything by mail, the FTC for phone, email or text fraud, the FBI's IC3.gov for forged documents or online fraud, and your state lottery's own security unit if a specific lottery's name was used.
Can I get my money back after paying a scammer?
Often not, especially once money has been wired or loaded onto gift cards. Reporting still matters, because it helps agencies build cases and warn others before they pay.
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The odds do not move, so check them yourself
Powerball is 1 in 292,201,338 and Mega Millions is 1 in 290,472,336 for one play. Every figure on this site is dated, sourced and shown with its arithmetic, and we sell nothing that could change any of it.