Beware Scams Claiming Affiliation With Maryland Lottery

The Maryland Attorney General's office has issued warnings for residents of scam artists claiming that individuals have won money in some foreign lottery that will be paid to them by the Maryland Lottery commission. All citizens are warned that these claims are bogus.

One common thread among all the different lottery scams is that people receive notification that they have won a prize, but in order to claim it, they must pay a fee. Many of them even go so far as to include counterfeit checks or money orders that appear so authentic that they fool bank tellers. Recipients are instructed to deposit these "checks" then wire money to some address to cover taxes and handling fees.

No legitimate lottery will ever ask winners to pay a fee to collect their prizes. Taxes may be withheld from the prize, but the winner will not be asked to take money out of his/her pocket in order to collect. This holds just as true in Maryland as in any other state that has a lottery.

It is also important to note that any notification of winning a lottery that one has not purchased a ticket for is a scam. The only legally recognized lottery in the state of Maryland is the Maryland lottery. Anyone selling tickets that are supposed to be from another state or country is committing fraud.