For years, scam operators have used the telephone and direct mail to entice U.S. consumers into buying chances in supposedly high-stakes foreign lotteries. Now they're using email, too — either to sell tickets or suggest that a large cash prize has your name on it. No matter what country's name is used to promote a lottery, the pitch follows a pattern: you should send money to pay for taxes, insurance, or processing or customs fees. The amount may seem small at first, but as long as you keep paying, the requests for funds will keep coming — for higher and higher amounts. Some victims have lost thousands of dollars.

Most scam operators never buy the lottery tickets on your behalf. Others buy some tickets, but keep the "winnings" for themselves. In any case, lottery hustlers generally try to get you to share your bank account or credit card numbers, so they can make unauthorized withdrawals.

If you're thinking about responding to a foreign lottery, OnGuard Online wants you to remember:

  • Playing a foreign lottery is against the law.
  • There are no secret systems for winning foreign lotteries. Your chances of getting any money back are slim to none.
  • If you buy even one foreign lottery ticket, you can expect many more bogus offers for lottery or investment "opportunities." Your name will be placed on "sucker lists" that fraudsters buy and sell.
  • Keep your credit card and bank account numbers to yourself. Scam artists often ask for them during an unsolicited sales pitch. Once they get your account numbers, they may use them to commit identity theft.

0