You won! (You didn't.) Prize and lottery scams explained.

WHAT'S HAPPENING

You receive a message — by email, text, letter, or phone — telling you that you've won a significant prize. All you need to do is pay a processing fee, taxes, or shipping costs to collect your winnings.

The prize, of course, never arrives. And the scammers have your money.

WHY IT WORKS ON SMART PEOPLE

These scams are more sophisticated than they used to be. Modern versions include fake checks that appear to clear, official-looking letterhead, and professional-sounding follow-up calls.

The winning amount is often large enough to feel transformative but not so large as to seem impossible. The fee is always small relative to the prize — which is exactly the logic scammers are counting on.

RED FLAGS

• You didn't enter a contest — so you can't have won one

• Any requirement to pay money before receiving a prize

• Requests for your bank account information to 'deposit your winnings'

• Urgency: 'You must claim within 48 hours'

WHAT TO DO

1. Legitimate prizes do not require you to pay to receive them. Full stop.

2. Delete the message.

3. If it came by mail, report it to the US Postal Inspection Service at postalinspectors.uspis.gov.

SOURCE

FTC Consumer Information