Beware of Foreign Lottery Scams

Special Notice:
"Instant Riches!"… too good to be true? The answer is Yes!

Lottery scams, often based in Canada and other foreign countries, are on the increase and have affected some families in the Chicago area. Liberty Bank wants you to be informed and protected from this illegal activity that could potentially con you out of thousands of dollars.

Targets of lottery scams may be contacted by e-mail, phone or direct mail. They are usually told they have won a lottery or have the opportunity to purchase reserved winning numbers that will allow them to collect a large sum of money. Consumers are told that all they need to do to collect their winnings is wire transfer a processing fee, or upfront fees for taxes or insurance.

Some artists are hoping customers will respond to these e-mails or phone calls and provide bank account numbers and other personal details that will enable them to commit identity theft. This activity is illegalthere are no secret systems for winning foreign lotteries!

Lottery scams are not limited to the internet, phone or e-mail though. Many potential victims are approached in person. A scam artist may approach a victim in a store, parking lot, or any public place and claim to have a winning lottery ticket. But for various reasons (often immigration), they cannot redeem the ticket. The scam artist will offer to sell the ticket or ask for "good faith" money while the victim redeems that ticket. This is a very dangerous scam, with cases where the victim has been abducted or assaulted.

If you suspect fraud of any kind, contact the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP, or call your local police or state's Attorney General. And please, be especially careful when you are approached by strangers.