Protect Yourself From Fraud

Fraud Advisory
We have recently seen a proliferation of e-mails – frequently with the heading “CONGRATULATIONS” -- notifying the recipient that they have won a prize in an Illinois Lottery e-mail lottery.  The e-mail includes a link to the Illinois Lottery’s web site as alleged proof that the e-mail is legitimate.  THIS NOTICE WAS NOT SENT BY THE ILLINOIS LOTTERY.  In fact, the Illinois Lottery NEVER notifies winners by e-mail.  If you receive an e-mail of this type, even one accompanied by an official looking claim form, be suspicious. 

Some other common scams:

• A person claims he is unable to redeem a winning ticket because he is in the country illegally, and offers to sell you the “winning” ticket.  A second person—posing as a stranger to the first person—walks by, and “confirms” that the ticket is “valid.”
• A person says the lottery is requiring cash up-front to redeem a winning ticket and offers to split the prize with you in exchange for the “good faith” money.
• You receive a letter with a foreign postmark and official-looking documents claiming you are one of the winners of a foreign lottery.  The letter states you must send bank account information and/or pay a processing fee to claim your prize. 

Information to help you avoid being a victim:

• Never give money or valuables to a stranger to redeem a lottery prize.
• “Good faith” money or banking information is never required by the Illinois Lottery to claim a prize.
• Undocumented aliens are permitted to claim their own Illinois Lottery prizes.
• Never purchase tickets from foreign lotteries by phone or by mail.  It is illegal for US citizens to participate in foreign lotteries through the mail.
• If you receive a “winner” notice for a drawing you never entered, be suspicious.
• Never reveal your credit card and bank account numbers to anyone unless you are certain the contact is legitimate, from a reputable company with whom you have a long-term relationship. The Illinois Lottery only requires credit card numbers when you phone us to purchase or renew a Lotto or Little Lotto subscription.
• Never accept a collect call from anyone claiming to be a Lottery official.
• Report suspicious “lottery” material to the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov or call 1-877-FTC-HELP.  You can also contact the Illinois Attorney General or call the Illinois Lottery at 800-252-1775 (Illinois only).
• If you receive a telephone call from a direct marketer who promises instant lottery prizes, hang up! NO lotteries in the U.S., including the Illinois Lottery, operate this way.

Watch out for phishing. Phishing is an attempt to criminally and fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

Most methods of phishing use some form of technical deception designed to make a link in an e-mail (and the spoofed web site it leads to) appear to belong to the spoofed organization. Misspelled URLs or the use of subdomains are common tricks used by phishers, such as this example URL, http://www.illinoislottery.example.com/.

Another common trick is to make the anchor text for a link appear to be valid, when the link actually goes to the phishers' site, such as http://en.illinoislottery.com/Numbers/Genuine. Once they gain access, they can use your personal information to commit identity theft, charge your credit cards, empty your bank accounts, read your email, and lock you out of your online account by changing your password.

If you suspect you might have entered any financial information at a phishing site, contact your financial institution immediately! Change your password as soon as possible before a phisher can lock you out of your account.

You might also want to follow the advice from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for identity theft victims.

Special thanks to the Colorado and Hoosier Lotteries for sharing their consumer fraud information with us.