It is impossible to win a lottery that you have not entered, yet scam artists constantly and successfully manage to convince people that they have won various lotteries, such as the Jamaican lottery about which I have written many times and which you can read about in the Scamicide archives.  Most lottery scams involve you being told to pay taxes or administrative costs directly to the lottery sponsor.  No legitimate lottery requires you to do so.   Income taxes are due on lottery winnings, but they are either deducted from the lottery winnings before you receive your prize or you are responsible for paying the taxes directly to the IRS.  No legitimate lottery collects taxes from lottery winners.  Other times, the scammer will send a forged certified check that looks legitimate and the victim is told to deposit the check and send back the fees and taxes, often by a pre-paid gift card or Green Dot Moneypak card.  This is a scam and the scammers forged check will bounce, but the money sent by the victim is lost forever.  The Publishers Clearing House lottery is perhaps the most famous lottery of all and it is a legitimate lottery.  So many people enter this lottery that scammers know that when they contact someone and pretend to be from the Publishers Clearing House, the person they are contacting may well have entered this popular lottery.  The next major lottery drawing by the Publishers Clearing House is coming up on April 30th and scammers will be contacting people by email or telephone telling them that they have won the lottery, but that they must pay some necessary costs.  Don’t fall for this scam

TIPS

The Publishers Clearing House does not notify major winners by email or telephone.  If you receive such a communication, you can be sure that it is a scam.  If you receive a communication that purports to be from the Publishers Clearing House and you want to confirm whether or not it is legitimate, you can call them at 1-800-392-4190 or at their website http://www.pch.com.