I have received an email claiming I have won the lottery, how do I know if it is real? 

It is easy to get excited when you receive an email claiming you have won a lot of money. Try to keep your head and answer some basic questions:

1. Did you enter a lottery?

If you did not enter a lottery, then you cannot win a lottery. Most lottery scams will claim that you did not have to enter the lottery and your email address was picked randomly, but rational though tells us we need to enter a game to win the prize.

 

2. Was the email addressed to you personally?

Fraudulent lottery emails are sent via bulk mail, meaning that you are not the only person to receive the email. Normally, this is done via the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) field, so you cannot see who is has been sent to. The email will not be addressed to you, and more importantly, the body of the email will not be addressed to you by name.

 

3. Did the email come from a free email address, such as hotmail, yahoo etc..?

Most fraudulent lottery emails are sent from free email accounts, or the people you need to contact using free email accounts. Would a professional lottery company be using a free account? No. Lately, some fraudulent lotteries have set up their own fake websites, and have emails at their domain to appear to be more professional. Although it does not indicate the lottery is genuine if they have a professional looking email address, it is a red flag when they are using a free email address.

 

4. Have you been asked to provide personal information?

Fraudulent lotteries will ask for personal information about you. This information could be used in an Identity Theft scheme, either by the fraudsters, or your information may be sold to Identity Theft crime rings. If you have provided any personal information, you may be at risk of Identity Theft. You should immediately check and monitor your credit report.

 

5. Have you been asked to make payment, for any reason, before you can receive your winnings?

Any lottery that asks for payment of any description before your winnings can be released to you is both illegal and fraudulent. - No matter what country the lottery is run, or where you are from. Various reasons money may be requested are for insurance, taxes, legal fees, anti-money laundering certificates, anti-terrorism certificates and lots of other reasons. Remember, a legitimate lottery would not ask you to make payment of any description before you can have your money. Taxes are your responsibility to pay, not the lottery company's.

Man looking pensively at laptop

 

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