Did you get a phone call telling you that you won big in the Florida Lottery?
No, you didn’t. The Florida Lottery does not do that, ever.
Scammers are calling people to claim they won prizes and asking for money for “taxes” or asking for sensitive personal information, according to the Florida Lottery.
“These scams are not only deceitful – they’re dangerous,” said Florida Lottery Secretary John F. Davis. “We want to remind our players that the Florida Lottery does not charge fees to claim prizes, and you should never provide your Social Security number, bank details, or make any form of payment in response to a call or message claiming you’ve won.”
Florida is ripe for online, text and phone scams.
Floridians were scammed out of more than $1 billion in 2024, according to the latest annual Internet Crime Report from the FBI, up from $874.74 million the year before. The Sunshine State saw both the third-most complaints and the third-highest losses behind California ($2.5 billion) and Texas ($1.35 billion).
The average loss per person was $19,372, the IC3 said, and the group hit the hardest, by a wide margin, people over the age of 60.
What should I do if I get a Florida Lottery scam call?
The Lottery suggests the following:
The Florida Lottery Division of Security also suggests never responding to a letter or phone call from someone who offers you a guarantee of winning a prize (that doesn’t happen), only buying lottery tickets from authorized retailers, always signing the back of a winning ticket to establish ownership, and never posting a picture of your winning ticket on social media.
How do I claim Florida Lottery winnings?
Lottery winnings can only be claimed in person at Lottery offices or by mail, provided the player has a valid winning ticket.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Did you win? Florida Lottery warns about scam phone calls asking for money, what to do
Reporting by C. A. Bridges, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Treasure Coast Newspapers
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
