(WWJ) If you didn't play the Lottery, you didn't win, and no...you don't have to pay a fee to collect a Lottery prize.
The Michigan Lottery wants the public to be aware of those two important points as it warns about a pair of scams involving crooks who claim to be lottery agents or prize winners.
"Lottery prize scams surface from time-to-time and have been known to pop up around the holidays. The public should always remain vigilant," the Michigan Lottery said, in a media release.
There are two types of lottery prize scams:
#1 — A person gets a letter, email, text, or phone call to inform them that they’ve won a big lottery prize but must pay a fee to collect the prize. If the person agrees, the scam artist convinces them to mail a cashier’s check, make an electronic funds transfer, or even arranges a meeting to get the money in cash.
#2 — A person is contacted by mail, email, text, or phone call by someone claiming to be a lottery prize winner. The scam artist tells the person they will share their prize if the person sends money to them. If the person agrees, the scam artist convinces them to mail a cashier’s check, make an electronic funds transfer, or even arranges a meeting to get the money in cash.In some cases, after getting money from the victim, the scam artist comes back asking for more for unexpected processing costs or fees or uses some other excuse to try to get more money from the victim.
Unfortunately, the more money the victim supplies, the longer the scam will continue, officials say.
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Important to note: The Michigan Lottery processes all prize claims for free, and players must have a valid winning ticket to claim a prize. If you haven’t bought a Lottery ticket or played a Lottery game, there’s no way you could win a prize.
To check if a lottery prize, offer, or promotion is legitimate, the public can call the Lottery’s Player Relations Division at 844-887-6836, option 2, or send an email to onlinehelp@michiganlottery.com.
If you believe you are the victim of a Lottery scam, you should contact your local police.
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