Tag: Prize and Grant Scams

Scams often start with a text, call, or an ad or message on social media. So, if you have a phone or you’re on social media, chances are you’ve heard from a scammer recently.

If you get a call saying “you’ve won a prize,” you might be thinking, why not claim it? Unfortunately, it’s likely a scam to steal your money — especially if it’s for a contest you didn’t enter. So how can you spot and avoid a prize scam?

Scammers make up all kinds of bogus stories to steal your personal information, or your money. Some go negative and make up a problem that doesn’t really exist. Others try a positive spin and say you won something, like free money made available through a government grant or program. How do you know if these promises are legit—or a scam? Here are five common signs of a fake government grant scam:

“You’ve won!” are two words likely to get your attention – but sometimes it’s a scammer delivering the news. (Spoiler: you didn’t win anything.) Here’s how to spot and avoid prize scams.

Scammers sometimes make you think you’ve hit a stroke of good luck. But if your million-dollar cash prize letter comes with instructions to pay a small fee — maybe for taxes, reporting, or handling — it’s not luck. It’s a scam. If you pay, you’ll lose your money and find out there’s no prize. Can you spot a prize scam?

That call or text might not seem like a scam. It might look like it’s Apple or Microsoft, saying there’s a problem with your computer. (It’s not.) It might seem like it’s Amazon, saying there’s a problem with an order. (Also no.) It might even sound like your grandchild, calling with (supposedly) an emergency. (Still no.) All of these are scammers. This is National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW) and we’re inviting you to join us in talking about scams just like these.

Every day people report to the FTC the scams they spot. Every year, the FTC shares the information we collect in a data book which tells a story about the top scams people tell us about – so we can all spot and avoid them.

Talking about scams is one of the best ways to protect yourself, your loved ones, and your community against scammers. You don’t have to be an expert, especially with tools to help get the conversation started.

You may have heard us say when you’re shopping online, check things out before checkout. The same advice applies to giveaways on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. Here’s why: One in four people who reported losing money to fraud since 2021 said it started on social media. Scammers make it hard to tell what’s real and what’s fake. Want to avoid scams on your feed? Slow your scroll and keep reading to find out how.

It’s illegal for a company to tell someone to pay to enter a sweepstakes contest, or that buying something increases their odds of winning. You might not be surprised if a fly-by-night contest promoter deceived people by saying these things. But would you expect a well-known company that’s been running sweepstakes for decades to deceive people?