Lotto Buyer Beware
Buying lottery tickets and playing lotteries online is popular and becoming more common place. It saves time and with many syndicates being made available online, odds can be increased by joining others and pooling financial resources to go after the big one.
There is however a lot of nasty and opportunistic people in the world and some have seen this as an opportunity to invent sophisticated and elaborate scams, that have no purpose other than to steal money from you.
So how do you protect yourself from these scams and unscrupulous people?
We have put together a list of 10 things you either need to know or can use to avoid becoming the victim of an online scam.
1: Be aware that these people are out there, that the internet is littered with scams and false promises. These people are out to steal your money.
2: Never give your personal information to anyone that you do not know and especially if it is under suspicious circumstances.
3: Only buy online from reputable sources and if you don't know who you are dealing with, research them before parting with your hard earned money.
4: If it seems too good to be true, then it usually is. Be prepared to walk away from seemingly generous offers, as they will often have a downside that you will not know about until after you have parted with you money and scammers don't give refunds.
5: Check all suspicious claims from unknown people or websites with online hoax reporting websites like or .
6: Remember, if you didn't buy a lottery ticket, it is highly unlikely that you will be winning any lottery and if someone sends you an e-mail telling you that you have won, run as fast as you can because there is a very good chance it is a scam.
7: If you suspect that an e-mail you have been sent is bogus and might be a scam, do not respond to it. These people are criminals and you should delete the e-mail without replying. These are not people you want to begin a conversation with.
8: Most people trying to scam you send their messages from free e-mail services like , , or one of the many thousands of other free e-mail services. This is a telltale sign of a scam. It would be very unusual for a major corporation giving away a lot of money to contact you via a free e-mail account.
9: Not all scams are run by e-mail. Some scams are run through websites and can come in the form of onsite advertising, pop ups and other methods. If you are presented with an offer on a website that requires you to part with money or your personal information, check that the offer is genuine before giving them anything. If you are not 100% certain that the offer is genuine, don't give them your money or information.
10: Most scams can be identified very easily by putting a piece of the information into and searching for results relating to the suspicious message. Most common scams will show up in the results.
There is however a lot of nasty and opportunistic people in the world and some have seen this as an opportunity to invent sophisticated and elaborate scams, that have no purpose other than to steal money from you.
So how do you protect yourself from these scams and unscrupulous people?
We have put together a list of 10 things you either need to know or can use to avoid becoming the victim of an online scam.
1: Be aware that these people are out there, that the internet is littered with scams and false promises. These people are out to steal your money.
2: Never give your personal information to anyone that you do not know and especially if it is under suspicious circumstances.
3: Only buy online from reputable sources and if you don't know who you are dealing with, research them before parting with your hard earned money.
4: If it seems too good to be true, then it usually is. Be prepared to walk away from seemingly generous offers, as they will often have a downside that you will not know about until after you have parted with you money and scammers don't give refunds.
5: Check all suspicious claims from unknown people or websites with online hoax reporting websites like or .
6: Remember, if you didn't buy a lottery ticket, it is highly unlikely that you will be winning any lottery and if someone sends you an e-mail telling you that you have won, run as fast as you can because there is a very good chance it is a scam.
7: If you suspect that an e-mail you have been sent is bogus and might be a scam, do not respond to it. These people are criminals and you should delete the e-mail without replying. These are not people you want to begin a conversation with.
8: Most people trying to scam you send their messages from free e-mail services like , , or one of the many thousands of other free e-mail services. This is a telltale sign of a scam. It would be very unusual for a major corporation giving away a lot of money to contact you via a free e-mail account.
9: Not all scams are run by e-mail. Some scams are run through websites and can come in the form of onsite advertising, pop ups and other methods. If you are presented with an offer on a website that requires you to part with money or your personal information, check that the offer is genuine before giving them anything. If you are not 100% certain that the offer is genuine, don't give them your money or information.
10: Most scams can be identified very easily by putting a piece of the information into and searching for results relating to the suspicious message. Most common scams will show up in the results.
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