Michigan Lottery warns against scammers posing as agents, prize winners

Tips for keeping your lottery win safe

Lottery players are being warned to watch out for scams by people posing as lottery agents or prize winners.

Michigan Lottery spokesman Jake Harris said these kinds of cases are typically handled by local law enforcement, so that’s who to contact if you suspect you’ve been targeted by scam artists. He estimates there are a handful of cases each year, but didn’t have specific numbers handy.

“This time of year the lottery is very popular, especially with people giving tickets as gifts,” he said. “We do see folks who don’t typically play lottery games and it’s time for a good reminder that you can’t win a prize if you don’t have a ticket. So if someone is approaching you via email saying, ‘Hey you won $500 million,’ that’s a scam.”

The two most-common attempts involved the thief will send a letter, email, text message or even call the target of their scam.

In one case, the message is that the recipient has won a big prize but must pay a fee to get their winnings. Anyone who agrees to pay that fee would be told to mail a cashier’s check, make an electronic fund transfer or even meet the person with the prize offer to get the “prize.”

Another tactic is a message from someone saying they’ve won a lottery prize and wants to share it with others — for a fee.

Sometimes the scam artist disappears with their victim’s money. In other cases, they may try to wring more money out of the victim by saying there were unexpected processing costs or fees.

Harris said the Michigan Lottery processes all prize claims for free.

The way to check if a lottery prize, offer, or promotion is legitimate is to call the Lottery’s Player Relations Division at 844-887-6836 and choose Option 2, or email at onlinehelp@michiganlottery.com.

Meanwhile, Harris said, “keep your guard up.” Those who do win big playing the state lottery games, he said, should sign the back of the ticket immediately and put the ticket in a safe place.

“Don’t post photos of it on social media or email or text pictures of it to family and friends. Keep your ticket private until you claim the prize,” he said.

Since the state lottery’s 1972 launch, gamblers have sent more than $27 billion to the state’s public-education fund. Learn more at www.michiganlottery.com.