Fraudsters are usually in search of new ways to trick people and extort money. One such way is lottery and E-mail scam.

What is a lottery scam?

A common man is always worried about his expenses and debt. Therefore, if someone offers him an opportunity to earn some quick money, he may not think twice. Fraudsters use this sentiment of a common man to extort money.

How does a lottery scam work?

In a lottery scam, fraudsters contact the victim via phone, message, or email, with email being one of the most common mediums. Using email provides them with a larger reach of people, and they send bulk emails at once. Through these types of mediums, they tell people that they have won a mega jackpot or lottery worth lakhs and crores of rupees. Once a person falls into the trap, they connect them to an agent or a contact person to guide the victim through the process. After that, they start extorting money by saying that the required processing fees or transfer fees will have to be paid in cash by the winner. This creates a loop, and they continue extorting money one way or the other until the victim is left with no money to pay. After that, the fraudsters disappear, with the life savings of the victim.

Usually, to gain the victim’s trust, fraudsters may use a name identical to an already existing reputed organization.

How to identify a lottery scam?

A lottery scam is usually conducted through mails. The absolute truth is, one cannot win a lottery without applying for it. So don’t believe such mails.

Even if you want to check further if the email is genuine or fraudulent, the e-mail will contain the phone number of their agent or contact person who will guide you. He will most probably ask you for money in the guise of transfer charges or processing fees. Usually, in genuine lotteries, such fees and applicable taxes are automatically deducted from the lottery amount, and the net sum is paid to the winner.

Mostly, the winning amount would be in foreign currency like Dollars or Pounds. This makes it easy for fraudsters to demand huge amounts of money in the name of transfer or processing fees for a foreign currency transaction.

What to do if you fall into a lottery scam?

Such online lottery scams fall under the category of cybercrime. Therefore, if you have become a victim of a lottery scam and have paid money to fraudsters, you should immediately report it to the cybercrime cell of your city or town. If your city or town doesn’t have a cybercrime cell or cannot find one, you may also report to your nearest police station.

Whatever the case may be, you should always report to the police about the scam before it gets too late. Do not delete any documents, proof, recorded calls, or e-mails from your computer and E-mail Id relating to such fraud. These things may be helpful to the police to find the fraudsters.

Other scams through Emails

Apart from lottery scams, email is also the most common medium for other types of frauds like banking and debit card frauds, data hacking, etc. You may receive an email containing a link to another web page where you will be asked for your banking details to receive the jackpot. Once you provide your banking details, your bank balance will most likely become 0, and all the money will be transferred to the fraudster’s bank account.

Conclusion

Government and police departments have been actively spreading awareness regarding these types of frauds. Do not disclose your personal and banking details to anyone; otherwise, you might become the next victim of a lottery or e-mail fraud.