It’s been about a year since the last time we saw them, but be aware that scams on Facebook involving the Powerball® and Mega Millions® names are back.
If there is any good news in the situation, it’s that a lot of people have reached out to us to say they saw the posts – and they knew they were scams. So, I hope that the warnings we issued last year had an impact.
I’ll say it again now: Protect yourself by staying away from the scams. Don’t click on the links involved!
The scammers are using some glitzy graphics to catch your attention, mocking up what appears to be an oversized, ceremonial check for $1 million, with a headline promising that Powerball or Mega Millions is “giving away a free $1 million jackpot online instantly.” We’ve seen several different versions of the scams linking to various website addresses. In any case, they’re fake. Please don’t fall for them.
We’re working to get the scams shut down, but as I said, they appear to involve multiple links and website addresses. Those who have clicked on the links involved report that doing so caused their Facebook accounts to be hacked. And that, in turn, keeps spreading the scams to more and more accounts.
You’ve likely seen warnings from us through the years about scams, but this latest version is a good reminder that we all need to stay vigilant and protect ourselves. Remember that in order to win a prize in Powerball or Mega Millions, you have to buy a ticket.
The scams may morph again before they’re done and target even more lottery games. So arm yourself with information. Take a moment to visit the Player Security reminders that we keep as a permanent item on the lottery’s website.
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