"You've Won the Lottery" Email — Why It's Always a Scam
An email says you've won a lottery, sweepstakes, or prize draw. It may mention a well-known brand or an official-sounding organization. You're asked to pay a fee or provide bank details to claim your winnings. Legitimate lotteries never email winners, and you cannot win a competition you didn't enter.
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How This Scam Works
High Risk — Advance Fee Fraud
You cannot win a lottery or prize draw you did not enter. Any email saying you've won money is a scam — no exceptions.
You receive an email claiming you've won a lottery, sweepstakes, or prize draw. The email may reference a well-known brand, an official-sounding organization, or a foreign lottery. To claim your winnings, you're asked to pay a "processing fee," "tax payment," or "administration charge" — or to provide your bank details so the winnings can be transferred.
Once you pay the initial fee, the requests continue — there's always another charge required before the money can be released. The winnings don't exist. This is known as "advance fee fraud" — the scammer collects payments for something that will never be delivered.
According to Action Fraud, lottery and prize fraud continues to affect thousands of UK residents each year, with estimated losses in the tens of millions of pounds annually. In Australia, Scamwatch reported significant losses to lottery and prize scams in 2023.
Red Flags
- Claims you've won a lottery or prize you never entered
- Asks for a fee to release your winnings (processing, tax, or admin)
- Requests your bank details to 'deposit' the winnings
- Uses official-sounding names like 'European Lottery Commission' or 'International Prize Board'
- Asks you to keep your win confidential — 'for security reasons'
The golden rule is simple: if you didn't buy a ticket or enter a draw, you didn't win. Legitimate lotteries deduct taxes and fees from winnings before payment — they never ask winners to pay upfront.
What You Should Do
What To Do
- Do not reply to the email or provide any personal information
- Do not pay any fees — no matter how small or reasonable they sound
- Do not provide your bank account details
- Delete the email
- If you already sent money, report to your local fraud agency immediately
How to Verify Legitimately
You cannot win a lottery you did not enter. If you did enter a legitimate lottery (like the UK National Lottery or Irish Lottery), check results at the official lottery website. Legitimate lotteries never notify winners by unsolicited email and never require upfront payments to release winnings.
Sources
- Action Fraud UK — Lottery Fraud — Lottery and prize fraud reports
- Scamwatch (ACCC) — Unexpected Prize and Lottery Scams 2023 — Prize and lottery scam losses in Australia