"You've won" a prize you never entered

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Americans 60 and older reported $136 million in lottery, sweepstakes, and inheritance scam losses to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2025. That's up from $76 million the year before, a rise of about 80 percent in a single year.

What it sounds like

"Congratulations! You've been selected as a winner in the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes, $2.5 million and a new Mercedes. Before we can release the funds, there's a one-time processing fee and taxes that need to be paid first."

Sometimes it's a call. Sometimes a letter that looks official, with a real sweepstakes company's name on it. Sometimes a check arrives first, for a few thousand dollars. It comes with instructions to deposit it and wire back a portion for taxes or fees. The check is fake and will bounce days later, after the wire is already gone.

What they want: money up front, framed as a tax, a fee, or a customs charge. It has to be paid before the "winnings" can be released. Sometimes they want your bank account number to "deposit" the prize directly.

The truth: you cannot win a contest you never entered. No real prize, lottery, or sweepstakes ever requires you to pay anything first. That includes real ones like Publishers Clearing House. If you have to pay to receive it, it isn't a prize.

The tell that ends the conversation

Any request for payment before a prize arrives is the entire scam. Not a detail to weigh, the whole thing. Real winnings arrive first. Any taxes owed on them are handled the same way as with any income: paid to the government directly, afterward. Never to the person handing you a check.

What to do

Don't pay anything, and don't deposit an unexpected check. If a bank lets you deposit a fake check, you're still responsible for the money once it bounces. That can happen days later, after you've already sent your share of it away.

Don't give your bank account number to deposit your winnings. A real sweepstakes doesn't need it. This is often just a way to get you to say the number out loud.

Verify it yourself. If a call claims to be from a real company, look up its number yourself. Call that number to ask. Publishers Clearing House, for instance, confirms plainly that it never asks winners to pay anything.

Report it at reportfraud.ftc.gov or ic3.gov.

There is no version of winning that costs you money first. If a prize requires a payment, a fee, or your bank details before it arrives, the prize was never real. Hang up. Nothing was lost.