Email lottery scams

Email lottery scams

15 May 2008

LOTTERY.COM.AU DOES NOT HOLD LOTTERY DRAWS.

EMAILS CLAIMING TO BE FROM LOTTERY.COM.AU NOTIFYING YOU OF WINNINGS ARE A SCAM.

THEY HAVE NO AFFILIATION WITH LOTTERY.COM.AU.

Lottery scams sent via email are increasingly common these days, and a particular email scam has recently been circulating regarding a fictional Australian lottery. Any further correspondence on your part will likely be met with a request for money to facilitate the transfer of winnings to you. If you follow these instructions, you could be conned out of thousands of dollars before the scammers are done with you. Often the reason given that you need to pay money is that you must pay taxes or transaction fees, but lump sum gambling winnings in Australia are not taxed and transfer fees are very rare and not more than a few dollars.

The biggest sign that the email is a scam will usually be the fact you will not have entered any competition. Usually the prize is an obscenely large amount, so it makes little sense that such a prize could be offered if no one has paid for entry. An attempt may be made in the email to justify this, such as corporations doing something charitable, but this shouldn't be believed.

Please visit our page devoted to advice on email lottery scams for more information about how to recognise and react to a scam.

DO NOT FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS OF SUSPICIOUS EMAILS AS THIS COULD LEAD TO FINANCIAL LOSS.

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