New Round Of Scams Being Reported

If you’ve followed the blog for a while, you know that I’ve posted warnings here several times about lottery scams. Well, a man who visited our Mason City office just reminded me that it’s likely time for another alert. We can never have too many reminders to keep things safe!

The man showed our Mason City staff a fax he had received. It contained a certificate appearing to bear witness to a $500,000 prize he’d won from the Iowa Lottery, along with what appeared to be a cashier’s check made out to him for that amount. Both the certificate and check had the Iowa Lottery’s logo on them. But there was just one catch. (And there’s always a catch with scammers, isn’t there?) During telephone calls with the man, the scammers said that in order for the prize to be processed, he needed to pay them a $649 fee. I have no idea why the scammers chose such a specific amount, but that’s what they said!

Obviously the fax did not come from the Iowa Lottery, and we assured the man of that. We also thanked him for bringing this latest scam attempt to our attention so we could warn others about it.

The folks in our Security Division researched the telephone number from which the fax originated and it definitely appears to have come from outside the United States. That makes it nearly impossible to trace, a frustrating situation we’ve often found through the years.        

The lottery scams we’ve seen have taken many different forms: Some have used the names of legitimate lotteries, others have used the names of legitimate lottery games such as Powerball® and Mega Millions®, and still others have “borrowed” the names of actual lottery officials in an attempt to give themselves the appearance of legitimacy. In most instances, the scammers are able to mask themselves by spoofing I.P. addresses, telephone numbers and physical locations.

The best thing that any of us can do to protect ourselves is to remain vigilant against scams and NEVER share our personally-identifying information such as Social Security numbers or bank account information. Remember that the only way you can win a prize from the Iowa Lottery is if you've bought a ticket at a licensed retail location in Iowa and you can present the ticket to us.

We keep a Player Security section as a permanent feature on our website, so please review the details there to learn more.

If you ever get suspicious letters, telephone calls or e-mails about a lottery game, or if you're in doubt about information that supposedly came from a legitimate lottery, feel free to give us a shout at 515.725.7900 and ask to speak with someone in our Security Division. It’s always better to be safe than sorry!

Comments

[Mary Neubauer]

Hi, Deb. You're welcome for the coupons! It's a nice touch we can offer to members of the VIP Club. If you were to win a prize on a ticket you purchased with a coupon, the prize-claim process would play out just as it would with any other ticket. Our system would show that you had purchased the ticket using a coupon, and that's perfectly fine. You would be able to provide those details, so it would not be a problem.

[Deb McDonald]

Hi. In the last 2 months I've received free lotto plays via emails. One each month. Although I haven't won yet- I appreciate your kindness. IF I would with the free play- what happens next? Sincerely, dltmac2004