Now that the lottery has offered big prizes and consumers are enthusiastically participating, Players should be aware of opportunistic scammers looking to take their money.
Mega Millions has issued an appeal warning for scammers who are becoming more aggressive and using their name and logo fraudulentlyAnd the Promise big prizes to people who receive official-looking emails or textsor through random phone calls.
“As with all lottery scams, these scammers try to trick consumers into believing they have won a big ‘prize’. They are not associated in any way with the actual Mega Millions game although they use our name and/or logo,” the foundation says in a statement.
Scammers also use WhatsApp to send “cash gift” prize notifications to random phone numbers around the world. They promise a cash prize of $700,000, and scammers expect an unsuspecting recipient to pay a high fee to claim a non-existent ‘prize’.
There has also been an increase in reports of People claiming to be Mega Millions reach out to consumers by phone, promising cash and other “prizes” like cars.. And although they may look very convincing on the phone, they are simply trying to steal money from consumers and in no way represent the institution.
Mega Millions warns consumers that prizes are not awarded randomly anywhere in the world based on phone numbers or email addresses: “Our game is only sold in the United States and only through our participating lotteries. The only way to win Mega Millions is to buy a US lottery ticket first; If you haven’t bought a ticket, you haven’t won. And there is absolutely no fee to claim an actual lottery prize.”
Mega Millions warns consumers that the scams are in no way connected to the actual game despite the use of the name and/or logo. Lottery officials advise people not to respond: “Fraudsters just want to steal your money. If you have any questions about the legality of any website, email or text message that uses the Mega Millions name and logo, please contact us or the lottery in your jurisdiction.“.
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– 10 Warning Signs That You Have Been a Victim of a Lottery Scam
– A Tennessee woman walked into a store to buy a cookie and came out with $1M and won it in a scratch
– 4 tips from a lottery expert to get money with a ticket that didn’t win the jackpot
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