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All About Lottery Scams
All About Lottery Scams
What You Need To Know About Lottery Scams
With the success of lotteries around the world has come a swarm of lottery scams. Most lottery scams consist of the same basic components. First, they get your name and e-mail address, home address, or phone number. Second, they write you a scam e-mail or letter pretending to be a bank, a lawyer, or a company. After you contact the scammers, they try to get your personal information and then may steal your identity. After they do this, they could use your credit cards, take out loans in your name, commit crimes under your name, and even get jobs using your name. Don’t fall into this trap! Only play official lotteries run by governments and don’t give out your personal information
Some Examples of Lottery Scams
There have been huge lottery scams in the UK, Spain, and almost everywhere. For example, in 2004 a lottery scam was enacted in Tennessee and other US States. This scam affected several US residents and costs residents thousands of dollars. There were lottery scam victims in New Mexico lottery, Tennessee lottery and Mississippi lottery. Basically the scam sent out fake letters to potential victims calling their organization the ‘Universal Lotto Promotions. They told the individuals that they had won $50,000 but they have to pay what they call a clearance fee to get their prize and that the fee would be deducted from the prize. After individuals paid the fee they received a counterfeit check and realized they had been scammed.
How To Identify a Lottery Scam
If you receive a letter saying you’ve won the lottery and you want to know if it’s a scam, here are some things to consider. You know the letter is a scam if you did not buy a lottery ticket, you do not live in the lottery country, you did not register your name or information before you were allowed to buy a ticket on an online lottery web site, or you never heard of the lottery name. There are also statements that can help to identify a letter as a scam such as, ‘All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 30,000 names from Australia, New Zealand, America…’, ‘Due to the mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep this award strictly from public notice…’, ‘This lottery was promoted and sponsored by …Ted Turner, Jesse Jackson, Bill Gates, etc.’
-An important note. No legitimate lottery web site exists without legitimate rules posted which can be verified on official state websites.
Buying Lottery Tickets
Since most states do not allow the sale of online lottery tickets you will have to purchase lotto tickets at the nearest lottery retailer. European lotteries have allowed players to buy lottery tickets online for years and the move has been highly successful. Players in Europe can log in to a lotto website and make an online lottery purchase from the privacy and comfort of their own home. Most lottery experts believe that the sale of online lottery tickets is an idea whose time has come.
Facebook Removes Fake Page of S. Dakota Powerball Winner
Facebook Removes Fake Page of S. Dakota Powerball Winner
Recently a South Dakota rancher who had fallen on hard times won the Powerball lottery. Neal Wanless, the winner, will walk away with $88 million after taxes. The big win received extensive press coverage. It was reported that the Wanless family had a mobile home repossessed and that the family couldn’t afford a phone. Mr. Wanless displayed a great amount of humility about his new found fortune vowing not to squander his winnings and promised to help those in the community who had supported the Wanless family during hard times.
It has been reported that someone using Wanless’s name set up a facebook page using his name. The profile using Wanless’s name quickly acquired 120 ‘friends.’ The Facebook page used the big winner’s real name and featured a picture of a cowboy riding into the sunset. On the information page was, “Looking For: Dating.” So far Powerball winner Wanless has issued no statement regarding the fake Facebook page. Facebook spokesman Simon Axten said the page has been disabled because it violates
Facebook’s terms and policies. Axten further stated, “Facebook has always been based on a real-name culture. We think this leads to greater accountability and a safer and more trusted environment for our users. It’s a violation of our policies to use a fake name or operate under another person’s identity, and we encourage users to report anyone they think is doing this, either through the report links we provide on the site or through the contact forms on our Help page.”
Before the page was shut down many well wishers had posted messages. One message read, “Must be nice! Being a single mom of 3 kids, I could definitely use a lottery win right now”¦ maybe then I could actually afford a house ¦ keep on dreaming right?”
Facebook spokesman Axten said he could not comment on the possibility of charges against the person who set up the fake page but said the company generally does not press charges for fake pages. So far Powerball winner Wanless seems to be taking his big win in stride. Neighbors of Wanless have no doubt that he will fulfill his promise to pay the community back for their generosity towards his family during troubled times.
Computer technology could very well affect the way lotteries do business in the near future. Several states are considering moves that would make the sale of online lottery tickets legal. Players will be able to log on to state lottery websites and make an online lottery purchase. Cash strapped states hope to fill state coffers with new lottery money by combining lotteries with 21st century technology.