What is a lottery or sweepstakes scam?
An email or letter from an overseas lottery or sweepstakes company arrives from out of nowhere. It will advise you that you have won a lot of money or fantastic prizes—in a lottery or sweepstakes competition you did not enter. Lottery scams will often use the names of legitimate overseas lotteries (often Spanish lotteries), so that even if you do some superficial research, the scam will seem real. Some examples of the real Spanish lotteries that the scammers falsely use are Loteria Primitiva and El Gordo. It is impossible for you to win these lotteries if you have not bought a ticket from an authorised distributor in Spain. Some other names that scammers will often use are the International Lotto Commission and the Princess Diana Lottery, among others. The email or letter you receive about your winnings will ask you to respond quickly or risk missing out. The scammers do this to try and stop you thinking about the surprise too much in case you start to suspect it could be a scam. You c
