Prize Scams Clarissa Nuñez

Prize Scams How does it work? A person receives a notification of winning a prize The person will be asked to pay to receive their “prize” The scammer will collect the money the person paid or collect money from a phone number the person has to call The scammer will also try to collect personal information, including bank account information, to sell the information or steal money from the bank account The scammer will keep the money and the person will most likely not receive the prize

Prize Scams Who is the target? Though prize scams target all people, prize scammers mainly target the elderly One couple, who scammed the elderly, took nearly $900,000 from the older people who fell for the scam

Prize Scams What makes it believable? The scammers will say they are from a legitimate organization The scammers use technology that makes the phone calls seem like they come from area codes where official organizations are located

Prize Scams How to recognize the scam When you receive a call that you’ve won something you didn’t sign up for, it is most likely a scam When asked to pay to receive a prize, it is a SCAM– you do not have to pay for a prize! When asked to pay taxes on the prize, it is a scam If something doesn’t seem right when winning a prize, look into it to make sure it isn’t a scam

Prize Scams Prize Scam Statistics (as of September 2015) There has been a loss of $44,605 in prize scams There has been 297 reports of prize scams There is a higher percentage of woman than men who have been scammed Mostly seniors are targeted and affected from prize scams

Works Cited Information http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0199-prize-scams http://www.fraud.org/scams/general-fraud/prizes-and-sweepstakes https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/types-of-scams/unexpected- winnings/unexpected-prize-lottery-scams http://www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com/fraudtypes/sweepstakes.aspx https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/september/senior-citizens-targeted-in- sweepstakes-fraud Pictures http://www.indianconsumerforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/lottery- scam-bait-300x225.jpg http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/1012649/17675820/1426109992187/gullible.j pg?token=iMKLV9Oon1njw5m5T8%2FVFvUprFw%3D http://blog.aarp.org/wp- content/uploads/2014/04/040414_SidBlog_PowerballScam.png http://www.hoax-slayer.com/images/australain-cash-and-prize-giveaways- facebook-scam.jpg