As with all industries there will always be a way for the opportunist to try to try to earn money fraudulently, and lottery scams are just an unwanted side effect of the popularity of lotteries worldwide. The types of lottery scams that have been reported range from phishing emails received asking for lottery players to verify their personal information, fake websites and letters or emails sent informing an individual of a fake lottery win.
If you receive an email that asks you to follow a link to provide sensitive information, it is always worthwhile checking with the company concerned that it is in fact genuine, and not a lottery scam. Certainly any reputable organisation would welcome clients contacting them rather than risk their personal data falling into the wrong hands.
How do you tell the difference between a real or lottery scam email or letter? Well certainly if you have never purchased tickets for an international lottery, but find you receive a communication informing you of a large win then without doubt this is a lottery scam. It is therefore essential that you do not pass any of your personal information and certainly no money to the sender. For detailed information about what to do if you believe that you have been targeted by lotto scam crooks, it is worthwhile visiting the Metropolitan Police's lotto fraud page. This type of fraud is becoming a real problem and the Police and Office of Fair Trading are taking the issue of lottery scams very seriously.
It really can’t be emphasised enough that keeping your personal data safe is critical and a few minutes taken just to verify the authenticity of any contact will be time well spent. Obviously the more difficult we all make it for those running lottery scams, then the more likely that they will no longer see their activities as fruitful and will cease their unscrupulous and parasitic activities.
