Maine Lottery Warns of Absurd New Scam

Another Day Another Scam

It seems like there is always a new scam popping up to take advantage of people. First, there were the e-mails from some "foreign prince" looking to leave the recipient some hefty inheritance. Then calls to elderly people asking for money to bail loved ones out of jail. These criminals will even claim to be the IRS. Facebook and Instagram are ripe with pages that at first glance appear to be celebrities reaching out about giveaways. Now the Maine Lottery has been notified of a scam through the mail.

Not the Maine Lottery

A letter has been making the rounds that indicate it originated from Bangor. The letter states that the recipient won a Spanish lottery prize worth $4,500,000.

The letter goes on to state that the way to claim the prize money is to call a lottery office in Madrid to process your winnings. They go on to say that there are legal documents to sign in person in Madrid but if the winner is unable to travel they will need to pay for a home delivery.

They end with a word of caution to keep the details of their winnings secret for "security" purposes.

Most would see this and know instantly it was a scam but there are inevitably those who do not.

See the scam letter on Facebook here.

Things to Look Out For

-Foreign phone numbers and information: If you participate in the Maine Lottery, there will never be a reason that a foreign lottery will contact you.

-Requests for money in order to get money: This is the hallmark of these scams. They promise you a lot of money or some sort of prize, in exchange for a smaller sum of money to "cover transactional fees". This is also a go-to tactic for catfishers on dating sites.

-Poor Grammar: A legitimate organization will likely have consistent proper spelling and grammar and likely not use an excessive number of exclamation points.

When in Doubt

If there is ever a question about the legitimacy of a call, e-mail, or letter, always reach out. In this case the Maine Lottery, or in other cases your local authorities.