Warning Signs of Sweepstakes and Lottery Scams

How to protect yourself against imposters claiming you’ve won big (for a price)

Deirdre van Dyk,

Updated June 17, 2026

AARP

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En español

Updated June 17, 2026

a dollar sign floats above a golden cloth covering an object

Matt Chase

Key takeaways

· Consumers reported losing $145 million to prize scams in 2024, with many cases likely unreported.

· Scammers often demand fees, taxes or personal data before delivering nonexistent winnings.

· Real lotteries don’t call winners or require upfront payments to claim prizes.

Who wouldn’t want to win thousands or even millions of dollars, or the chance to go on a luxury vacation? There are many legitimate sweepstakes and contests out there, and the idea of winning some fabulous prize can be mighty alluring. Criminals get that, and they exploit your eagerness to score that big check or dream trip.

These scams are similar to the romance scams “where you’re generating this ideal self, a future version of you,” says Marti DeLiema, a professor and associate director of education for the Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation at the University of Minnesota who studies scams. The criminals use phantom riches, which is an effective persuasion tactic, she says. “It gets you to imagine and fantasize about financial gain, [which] feels really good. It’s those hits of dopamine.”

They are also disturbingly common. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), consumers reported losing $145 million to prize, sweepstakes and lottery scams in 2024, up more than $18 million from the year before. The actual losses are likely much higher, as fraud is notoriously underreported.

Publishers Clearing House scams are particularly common, with impostors using the company’s well-known name to convince people they’ve won big money.

How lottery scams work

The initial contact in a sweepstakes scam may be a call, email, social media notification or even snail mail offering congratulations for winning a big contest. But there’s a catch: You’ll be asked to pay a fee, taxes or customs duties to claim your prize.

You might get a call from someone claiming to be from Publishers Clearing House, for example, who says you won $10 million and a new car. To receive the money and car, you just have to pay a $400 delivery-and-activation fee in the form of gift cards. Once you do so, the scammers disappear — or come back with requests for more money.

Some scammers will instead (or also) request bank account information and Social Security numbers. They say it’s to file notices of winnings with the IRS, but it’s actually an attempt to steal your identity.

And some criminals impersonate past winners, such as the 2017 $758 million Powerball winner from Massachusetts, Mavis Wanczyk. In these cases, the criminals claim Wanczyk wants to give individuals grants from her winnings, but first need their personal information or a fee.

Signs of a lottery or sweepstakes scam

A call saying you’ve won the lottery. Players are the ones who contact the lottery, not the other way around, says David Gale, executive director of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, a trade association. “Lotteries have no idea who holds winning tickets,” with a few exceptions, Gale says: For example, states that offer online lottery sales may know because players must set up accounts to play. But in that case, “players are automatically credited with winnings directly into their account,” he says.

A call from Publishers Clearing House. PCH representatives notify winners in person or by mail.

You must pay to collect. “Legitimate lotteries do not require winners to pay anything up front to receive their winnings,” Gale says. He explains that lotteries take a different approach to taxes: For large prizes, taxes are automatically withheld from the amount paid to the winner.

You win a prize for a contest you didn't enter.

They ask for your financial information. Criminals tell you you’ve won a prize, but they need your financial information to verify you as the winner.

They spend a lot of time with you. Criminals try to engage you in friendly conversation. “If the person is trying to build a relationship with you, that’s not [what] the real lottery distributors do,” DeLiema says.

How to protect yourself

1. Hang up the phone. Hang up on cold calls claiming to be from well-known contests.

2. Take time to consider. Scammers will urge you to move quickly, but “slowing down is always important. It helps you process the information,” DeLiema says.

3. Talk to friends and family. Criminals may tell you not to tell anyone because they’ll want your money, or because it will deprive you of the chance of surprising your family with big checks. But DeLiema says that speaking to someone else provides a reality check: “Most of the people who do [talk to others] learn right away that these lotteries and sweepstakes are not real.”

4. Independently verify. You can always check your ticket in person at a retailer. Gale says customers can also check the state lottery home page, see live or archived drawings on the lottery site, or call the lottery’s winning number line. To find out if phone calls are from a legitimate lottery, call the lottery in your jurisdiction and ask for the security department, he says.

5. If collecting the prize isn’t free, pass. Don’t ever pay a fee to claim a prize you’ve supposedly won or to improve your chances of winning. 

6. Protect your personal information. Never provide personal or financial information to anyone who contacts you about a lottery prize.

7. Read the fine print. If you’ve been sent a contest through the mail, make sure it isn’t missing legally required information, such as the contest’s start and end dates, methods of entry, descriptions of prizes and various legal disclaimers. If that stuff isn’t there, something is wrong.

If you’ve been a target

Report the fraud. If you’ve lost money in a sweepstakes scam, or you have information about the scammer, report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3.gov), and your state attorney general. Not every complaint leads to enforcement action, but the information can help officials to spot trends and sometimes identify the criminals.

Call the free AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline, 877-908-3360, to speak with trained fraud specialists who can provide support and guidance on what to do next and how to avoid future scams. The AARP Fraud Watch Network also offers online group support sessions.

The original story has been updated with new data and information.

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The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.

Deirdre van Dyk is an AARP associate editor. She previously worked at USA Today and Time, where she covered business, government, sustainability and innovation.

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Warning Signs of Sweepstakes and Lottery Scams