You just got an email that says you won $421 million. It’s from the North Carolina Educational International Lottery and all you have to do next is contact the lottery to find out how to collect the funds.
“They said I won through a free entry from my LinkedIn profile,” said the person sharing the email with us. “I hope this helps you stop them.”
Our writer was smart enough to easily see this was the start of a scam. We hope you will be too.
Check out the email reported to us and see if you can see the red flags that should be a warning sign.
Red Flags:
1 The sender’s email address is not an official NC Lottery email address
2 The NC Education Lottery is not an international lottery.
3a The name in the email closing does not match the name of the sender’s email address. 3b The address is based in Chicago, IL, not NC.
Here are a few helpful tips to help you Be Smart, Play Smart, and prevent you from becoming a victim of a scam:
- Never give your credit card, social security, driver’s license, passport, or bank account numbers over the phone, in an email, or through a letter to anyone promising lottery cash prizes.
- Never pay anyone a fee to obtain your winnings. This includes “processing” and “handling” costs.
- Never respond to a letter, email, or phone call requesting you to send money or to cash a check with directions to send a portion of the money back.
If you have any questions about the legitimacy of a lottery communication, please call our Security Hotline, available 24 hours a day, at 888-732-6235.
For more examples and tips on how to avoid scams, visit our Player Security page.
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