5 Tips to Help You Avoid Fraud on National Lottery Day – Bitdefender

      July 14, 2022       <br>Every year on July 17, millions of individuals try their luck at winning a grand prize at the lottery. This year, in celebration of National Lottery Day, we’re urging consumers to remain vigilant against lottery and sweepstakes scams.<br><br>Cybercriminals are highly opportunistic and may have a go at unsuspecting lottery enthusiasts in an attempt to steal their money and personally identifiable information.<br>Lottery scams are a type of advance-fee swindle. They are very common and involve promising victims a large share of money in return for up-front payments. In fact, advance-fee scams (including lottery scams) accounted for %12 of all incoming email-based spam topics in 2021, according to Bitdefender <a href="https://www.bitdefender.com/files/News/CaseStudies/study/418/bitdefender-landscape-report-2021.pdf">telemetry</a>.<br>In the first quarter of 2022, the FTC reported over 19,000 lottery and sweepstakes fraud reports filed by consumers that lost over $52 million. The agency also <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2021/10/ftc-issues-annual-report-congress-protecting-older-adults">notes</a> that older adults (60 and over) were three times more likely to report losses to prize and lottery scams.<br><br><br>The number one rule in avoiding lottery fraud is to fully dismiss unsolicited correspondence mentioning you’ve won a grand cash prize. Other ways to avoid getting scammed include:<br>· Use your common sense; If you haven’t bought a ticket or entered an online raffle, the message is a scam.<br>· Be wary of look-a-like websites and bogus links on social media and online ads. Look for grammar mistakes and do some research<br>· Keep in mind that official lotteries will never ask you to pay bank fees to receive your prize<br>· Never send wire crypto, gift cards, or wire transfers to cover processing fees<br>· Don’t give personally identifiable information to people calling or sending you a confirmation of winning the lottery<br><em>If you want to improve the cyber-resilience of you and your family, check out Bitdefender’s </em><a href="https://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/ultimate-security.html">all-in-one security plans</a><em>. You can <strong>fend off phishing and nasty internet threats</strong> while benefiting from <strong>unlimited VPN traffic</strong>, a <strong>password manager, </strong>and <strong>identity theft protection</strong> (for US only) to stay on top of data breaches and stop fraud attempts.</em><br><em>Read more about our ultimate-mega suite </em><a href="https://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/ultimate-security.html">here</a><em>.</em><br>tags<br>Alina is a history buff passionate about cybersecurity and anything sci-fi, advocating Bitdefender technologies and solutions. She spends most of her time between her two feline friends and traveling.<br>          October 27, 2025       <br>          October 24, 2025       <br>          October 14, 2025       <br>          October 13, 2025       <br>          October 13, 2025       <br>          September 17, 2025       <br>          July 15, 2025       <br><br><a href="https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMirAFBVV95cUxPZFlsSUhJaE5DMENLanBKMm1ialluZ3k2Z0lFdGl4Q1I2VEo3TVNMYUU0NXc0N0dpd1RGMkZyaGdNd0NfNTFRS0NUMWJfVDlfVzBxMXhqa0FkUHg3U2xHVXQxdkxseVVOSjNqc0x2Nnl0SzZQSU1JN29xMnBvNXlMWWpydmh5S0NabkcwbFNFWjNzWVgzTFlJS3BrYm0yUkt2T3dMdmVyeXFQSFp3?oc=5">source</a>