Alberta warns that lottery scam is a ticket to losing money

The Alberta government is warning against emails that tell people they have won money from a group claiming to be the Alberta Lottery Fund & Prize America/Canadian Lottery Online Lucky Program.

“The bogus lottery scam has been around for years, but more recent versions appear to be taking a local twist,” said Heather Klimchuk, Minister of Service Alberta, responsible for consumer protection. “There is nothing legitimate about the email. Just delete it. The scammers usually operate from overseas and if you send them money, it’s probably gone for good.”

An Albertan recently provided the government with an example of the email, which congratulated the recipient for winning an US$820,000 jackpot. The message referred to the department of Alberta Culture and Community Spirit.

The Alberta Lottery Fund provides financial support to community-based projects from provincial gaming revenue. It is not a lottery program that people can enter to win prizes.

People who contact the sender of the emails are asked to pay a purported tax or administrative or other fee in order to collect their winnings. The scam operators often try to repeatedly persuade recipients to pay additional funds, promising that the prize is being processed.

Warning signs for scams such as this include the use of internet email addresses, such as Hotmail or Yahoo, and overseas phone numbers. Also, legitimate lotteries do not contact winners by email, award prizes on the basis of randomly selected email addresses, or ask winners to pay fees upfront.

More information about spam email scams is available from the Canadian Consumer Handbook at www.consumerhandbook.ca/en/topics/consumer-protection/spam. Service Alberta also provides tipsheets on a range of consumer topics at www.servicealberta.ca or by calling the Consumer Contact Centre toll-free at 1-877-427-4088.