New Version of Lottery Scheme Tricking Hoosiers

Your BBB® has written about lottery/sweepstakes schemes in the past, but they continue to circulate and we continue to receive calls from “lucky” consumers who have received a call or letter about sweepstakes or lottery winnings.

In case you haven’t heard of these schemes before, here’s how they work:

Consumers typically receive a call or letter claiming that they’ve “won” a sweepstakes or lottery.  The letter or caller may claim to be from a whole host of organizations, for example, Publisher’s Clearing House, Mega Millions Lottery, Prize Notification Center and many others.  Generally, the letters state to claim your winnings all you have to do is send some amount of money to pay for “taxes” or “delivery.”  That amount varies but is usually asked to be sent via wire transfer or pre-paid card. Unfortunately, the winnings don’t exist, and you are out any money you’ve sent.

According to the Indiana Attorney General’s office, Hoosiers are reporting calls similar to this claiming to be from the Indiana Gaming Commission. In one case reported to the AG, a victim wired $6,000 to a bank overseas and only when he was asked to wire $2,000 more did he catch on to the scheme. The AG’s office reminds consumers that the Indiana Gaming Commission does not offer sweepstakes and would never contact you for this purpose. The AG’s office also states: “the Hoosier Lottery is the agency that distributes lottery winnings in Indiana and they do not initiate contact to winners over the phone and will never ask you to pay any fee to claim the prize.”

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