Congratulations, you’ve won a prize in a contest! The prize may be money, a vacation trip, cryptocurrency, a home appliance such as a washer or dryer, a beverage cooler or brand-name wireless headphones.

The phone call, email or social media post you received says you won an award—and yet, you don’t even remember entering the contest. It’s more likely that the only thing you’ve won is an invitation to be tricked out of your money and maybe control of your financial accounts. Fake contests are a very popular trick used by crooks and are widespread in the U.S.

The U.S. government’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) takes in reports from consumers about problems they experience in the marketplace, including many types of fraud. These reports are stored in the Consumer Sentinel Network, a secure online database available only to law enforcement, but its results are published annually in its Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book. According to the Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2023, the fraud category of “Prizes, Sweepstakes and Lotteries” ranked number seven in the top 10 categories of reported fraud that year—and it has been a leading fraud category for several years.

Before you respond to the person contacting you with the good news to tell you how to claim your award, consider if you’re dealing with a scam. What could tip you off that you might be on the losing end of a bogus contest win?

Here are eight signs of a contest scam to think about if you’re contacted as the latest prize winner

1. The prize is often a significant amount of money or something else of high value, such as a car or vacation trip. Instead of an amount such as $50, $100 or even $500, the prize is stated to be worth at least several thousands of dollars or possibly much more. The possibility of winning a lot of money or an expensive item or experience can be very enticing—and distract attention from what else the fraudster is communicating to you.
2. But please know, the prize could be something smaller and less valuable, like a gift card, beverage cooler, air fryer, wireless speaker or earbuds. It can be easier for some people to believe that they’ve won something of modest value rather than a huge award; they’ve won something that doesn’t cost much so it must be cheaper to give it away in a contest. Fraudsters have evolved their tactics when they recognized that smaller, more realistic products may not trigger the same warning thoughts as a big win and could be more believable and compelling to potential victims. Be wary; the less pricey prize could still be an expensive scam.
3. As a winner, you have to pay to get your prize money. Why should a winner pay to get what should be free money coming to them? There should be no fees or charges of any kind that a winner owes the contest operator for personal or business taxes, packaging, shipping, processing, transferring, importing, maintaining money in an escrow account or currency exchange.
4. The scammers may tell you that you can pay them money to increase your odds of winning. In the U.S., legitimate sweepstakes are entirely free to enter (no money is charged to the contest entrant, and no purchase must be made to enter) and winning is only by random chance; a contest entrant cannot affect their chance of winning with one entry. It’s illegal to require a contest participant to pay money to the contest operator in an attempt to increase their odds of winning. It’s fraudsters who want their victims to pay to play.
5. You are asked to pay money in an unusual way or only electronically. Scammers typically don’t want to be paid by paper check through the U.S. mail. Instead, they push for payments via wire transfer, digital payment methods, cash sent through mail or overnight delivery, physical gift cards (or just the gift card codes) or cryptocurrency. Legitimate businesses rarely request payment by gift card and seldom, if ever, by cryptocurrency. According to the U.S. government agency the Federal Trade Commission, “Money transfers are frequently used by fraudsters across a wide variety of scams because they are nearly impossible to retrieve after the money has been picked up.” With any of these payment methods, it’s difficult to track where the money went or get it back after a victim realizes they’ve been bamboozled.
6. You must pay money immediately because your contest entry will expire soon, and you will lose your winnings. For a crook, speed is essential; they don’t want to give their victim time to think about the situation or tell someone else about it; someone who would realize it’s a fraud. The scammer will tell their victim that they must pay quickly to get their prize. Digital money transfer, gift card numbers, overnight cash or cryptocurrency are fast payment methods.
7. The contest representative needs your financial information. There should be no valid reason to give your savings, checking or credit card account details to anyone before you can claim a prize. Do not give out this information; an authentic contest should be able to mail a check to a winner without knowing any of their financial account information or insisting that the money can only be given to the winner electronically.
8. You don’t remember ever submitting an entry for the contest or even knowing about it. If a significant prize is available, it’s likely that many people would remember the size of potential award(s) and whether they voluntarily took time and effort to enter the contest.

As the enduring adage says, if something is too good to be true, then it probably is. People do enter contests and they do win prizes, but the odds are typically stacked with more losers than winners. Be careful when anyone comes to you announcing your good fortune, especially if it concerns a contest that you don’t remember entering.

Can I report a contest scam to the U.S. government?

Yes! If you think someone tried to scam you, then:

• Contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at 1-877-FTC-HELP, 1-877-ID-THEFT or online at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
• The FTC also has a site that can help potential or actual scam victims, Money Matters, to thoroughly review. You can also watch its video on Why Report Fraud to learn how your report can help stop scammers.
• The U.S. Department of Justice has a list of government agencies where different types of fraud can be reported.
• Fraud can also be reported to state and local government authorities; in some states, fraudulent activities are reported to the state attorney general’s office.
• You also can contact your local consumer protection office for assistance.
• If the contest message came in the U.S. mail, then it can be reported to the US. Postal Inspection Service.
• If you gave any personal information to someone you think may be a scammer, visit the website IdentityTheft.gov for a series of actions that could help protect your identity.

Contact Delta Community immediately if you’re worried about your accounts

• If you think your Delta Community accounts have been compromised, immediatelycontact our Member Care Center via our toll-free number at 800-544-3328 with whatever details you have, including dates, amounts of money, email messages, email addresses, text messages, phone numbers and names.
• Please remember, Delta Community promotional contests and sweepstakes winners will never be asked to provide sensitive account details such as checking, savings, investment, ATM, debit or credit card account numbers, your account password, telephone access (IVR) PIN, one-time passcode or other confidential personal information.

How about a free chance to learn more about avoiding scams and fraudsters?

More information on protecting yourself and your accounts—along with financial guidance—is available from free Delta Community Financial Education Center webinars on many different money-related topics. You can visit the Financial Education Center's Events & Seminars page to register for its no-cost, on-demand webinars.

Delta Community’s blog and security posts have a lot of advice on handling online personal security:

• Avoid fake check scams.
• Learn check-writing tips.
• How to hang up on imposter scams, part 1.
• How to hang up on imposter scams, part 2.
• Did you know that only scammers get paid with gift cards or cryptocurrency?
• Think for a minute, and then don’t click 'unsubscribe' from spam emails and texts—managing spam.
• Learn how to make your mobile and online payments safer.
• How to protect yourself online while working or learning from home.
• Why to question your security questions.
• ​How to secure your home network.
• You should know how to tell if someone’s stolen your identity and how to prevent it.
• How to get a stronger password and use a password manager.
• Be on the lookout for phishing, smishing and vishing attacks.
• Be vigilant for spoofed phone calls.
• Harden your email account against an attack.