Beware of Lottery Scams!

Just found out you’ve won some money in a lottery draw? Hold off on celebrating — there’s a chance that joy could turn into disappointment.

If you receive a random message from an unknown sender claiming you’ve won a large sum, it’s time to be cautious. Scammers often use these tactics to lure unsuspecting victims.

As a trusted online lottery courier service, we’ve created this page to help you steer clear of lottery scams.

Don’t take any gift at face value

Remember, money doesn’t fall from the sky—or show up in your inbox unexpectedly. The same goes for winning prizes from lotteries you never entered. The golden rule: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Unmask the scammer behind the screen

Scammers often impersonate affiliates of state or national lottery organizations or well-known businesses, even using authentic logos to seem credible. However, legitimate lottery organizations will never contact winning ticket holders in this way.

How to protect yourself?

  • Never make a phone call to ‘verify’ a lottery win.

  • Ignore suspicious emails, and certainly don’t open links within them.

  • Watch out for misspellings and grammatical errors, as they are often signs of fake win notifications.

  • Never disclose personal or financial information to claim a lottery prize.

  • Don't share your personal details, contact information, bank account, credit card information, or Social Security number online or with strangers.

  • "Winning tickets" are non-transferable; don’t buy them from others or collect them on their behalf.

  • Only the ticket holder can claim prizes in their name; don’t allow others to do it for you, and vice-versa.

  • Be cautious of "jackpot winners" on social media offering to share their prize money — this is often a scam.

TheLotter Ohio is safe

Your account at theLotter OH, including your Social Security number and financial information, is safe and secure. You can easily verify any winnings by logging into your account. When theLotter OH contacts you, it’s as a lottery courier service fulfilling your ticket order—not as an official lottery organization. The company earns revenue through a service fee for processing your ticket purchase. You can customize how you’d like to be notified of a win by adjusting the notification settings in your account.

Secondary winnings (prizes under $600) will be promptly transferred to your online lottery account once we receive them from the official lottery operator. For larger prizes, we’ll arrange to send you the winning ticket so you can personally claim your prize at the Ohio Lottery offices.

Rest assured, we will never charge you a fee or take a commission from your lottery prize.

For more information

The Federal Trade Commission has more information on fake lotteries and other scams on this page. You can also call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).

More information on Player Protection here.

If you are a victim of a lottery scam

Report any attempted scam to the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP or at the FTC Consumer Information website.

Outsmart lottery scammers

Keeping these risks in mind when participating in online lottery draws can help you avoid becoming the next scam victim. For more information, check the tips from the Ohio Lottery. If you have been the victim of a scam, please contact the Ohio Lottery at (216) 774-5757.