Scam Alert🚨📢:Episode 05: Lottery and giveaway scams

Have you ever seen a post like this one “You could win a gift card or $ 500 worth of clothes from this link?” Nevertheless, virtually all the promotions you come across on social media networks are scams; the persons behind the accounts are not in the habit of offering actual rewards.

After these posts gain a sufficient amount of likes and shares, scammers can modify the post and include a link with the malware which would infect the devices of all unsuspecting individuals who would click on it. Others can retain the post’s content once they gain likes and change it into ads for fake or unlawful services or products.

Lottery and giveaway scams, then, have several symptoms.

The warning signs below can help you sniff out lottery and giveaway scams on social media:

• Unexpected notifications: Avoid responding if you are notified of winning a lottery or prizes that you never sought.
• Urgent payment requests: This is because scammers will always apply pressure on the victims to pay fees to cover the costs of the so-called winnings that they want the victims to claim.
• Too-good-to-be-true prizes: In the case, that the money proposed to be awarded is highly generous for a small amount of effort, then it is a scam.
• Incomplete contact information: Where there is ambiguity and the potential for misrepresentation, it should be considered a warning sign if the person receiving the communication cannot easily and confidently confirm when or how they can contact the sender.

 

Here’s how to avoid a potentially costly lottery or giveaway scam:

• Verify legitimacy: It is always advisable to cross-check whether the lottery or the giveaway is genuine by investigating the organization and its communication. When dealing with representatives of legitimate organizations, they should always include their contact information – this is a reason to worry if they don’t.
• Never pay upfront: Scam lotteries will never demand that you pay any amount of money before you claim your prize legitimate lotteries will not demand any fee for any prize that is to be given out. If money is requested, be careful.
• Only trust official communication: You should not receive official notices through, for example, an e-mail that you received from unknown senders.
• Incomplete contact information: Another warning sign is a lack of targets being clearly defined and easily verifiable when it comes to establishing communication.

See you In the Next Episode….