Scammers are at it again, folks. This time in the form of a fake lottery letter mailed to home addresses.
Martin County Sheriff’s Office recently issued a warning about scam letters being mailed to residents, claiming the recipient has won a lottery prize. The letter, according to deputies, is being sent by a lottery company and urges the recipient to call the phone number or email address provided in the letter.
Unfortunately, that letter is a fake and is trying to scam you out of your money.
While you can’t stop someone from committing fraud, you can lessen the likelihood of falling victim to it. Here’s how:
- You have to be in it to win it. If you’ve never purchased a lottery ticket, then you cannot win a lottery prize.
- We do not know who winners are until they come to claim their prize. We will never send you a letter or email or call you saying you won a prize UNLESS you purchased your tickets through your official NC Lottery Online Play account or entered a Lucke-Rewards or Second-Chance drawing.
- If you don’t know the game, it’s probably a scam. If you receive a letter saying you won a prize playing a game that you didn’t know existed, it is most likely a scam. You can always go on our website and look at our games. You can find that info here.
- Pay before you claim? No way. If a letter, email or phone call requests that you send money or cash a check with directions to send a portion of the money back, it is a scam. No lottery will ever ask you to pay before you claim.
We know many of you have heard this scam message before, but we need your help in raising awareness and telling others. The more people know, the less likely they are to fall victim to these con artists.
It’s better to be safe than sorry. If you ever have an instinct something could be wrong, please report it by calling our customer service team at 877-962-7529 or our security hotline at 888-732-6235.
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