Arnaques à la loterie et aux prix

Tactiques courantes

• • Emails or messages claiming you've won a lottery you never entered
• • Official-looking documents with logos from real organizations
• • Requests for "processing fees", "tax payments", or "legal costs" to release the prize
• • Pressure to keep the win confidential and act quickly
• • Sending a fake cashier's check for part of the "winnings" and instructing the victim to deposit it and wire back the "taxes" — the check eventually bounces but the wired money is gone
• • Using fake websites that clone the branding of real lottery organizations (Powerball, Mega Millions, EuroMillions) complete with official-looking reference numbers and claim forms
• • Escalating the scam with multiple fake "officials" — a "lawyer," a "bank manager," and a "tax agent" — who all contact the victim separately to make the scheme appear more legitimate

Comment les identifier

• You can't win a lottery you never entered — this is the biggest red flag
• Real lotteries never ask winners to pay fees upfront
• Messages come from free email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo) not official domains
• Prize amounts are unrealistically large
• The notification uses vague language like "your email was selected" or "your IP address won" — real lotteries require purchasing a specific ticket with matching numbers
• You are told to keep your winnings secret and not consult anyone — legitimate prize organizations have no reason to demand secrecy
• The scammer becomes increasingly aggressive or introduces additional fees each time you pay, creating an escalating cycle of payments that never leads to receiving the prize

Comment vous protéger

• Remember: if you didn't enter, you can't win — delete the message
• Never pay money to claim a prize — legitimate winnings are never conditional on fees
• Don't share personal or financial information with unknown contacts
• Report lottery scam emails to your email provider as spam
• If you receive a check as part of your "winnings," do not deposit it — fraudulent checks can take weeks to be identified by banks, and you will be held responsible for any money spent from the deposited amount
• Verify any lottery claim by contacting the official lottery organization directly using contact information from their verified website — not the contact details provided in the notification you received
• Tell friends and family, especially elderly relatives, about this scam pattern — according to the FBI's IC3, lottery and prize scams accounted for over $300 million in reported losses in recent years

Exemples concrets