Fraud Prevention

Protect Yourself. Be Aware of Lottery Scams.

The Maryland Lottery is committed to conducting business with honesty, integrity and transparency. However, there are individuals who attempt to scam unsuspecting people by claiming to represent legitimate lotteries. You can prevent yourself and your loved ones from becoming victims by knowing the signs of a lottery scam.

It is also important to know about how staff members at the Maryland Lottery may legitimately contact you.

Spotting Lottery Scams

If you receive any communications telling you that you have won a lottery prize, we encourage you to contact us. We’ll be glad to review any messages you received.

  • Call the Maryland Lottery office at 410-230-8800
  • Send us an email at [email protected]

Lottery scam attempts have several obvious signs, including:

  • They ask for personal data: Do not give anyone your Social Security Number, banking information, credit/debit card information or other personal data.
  • They ask for payment in advance: Do not agree to send money to anyone who tells you that you have won a lottery prize. Scammers may ask for payment of processing fees, insurance, service charges or taxes. Legitimate lotteries never require winners to make upfront payments in order to receive their prizes. If you win a large lottery prize, federal and state income taxes are withheld from the amount you won, just as taxes are withheld from a paycheck. You don’t pay the taxes on a lottery prize out of your own pocket.
  • They ask for your bank account information so they can deposit winnings into your account: Do not provide your bank account information to anyone. The Maryland Lottery will never ask for your bank account information because Maryland Lottery winnings are paid by check, not by direct deposit into your bank account.
  • They tell you that you won when you weren’t playing: The only way to win a lottery prize is to buy a lottery ticket that turns out to be a winner, or to enter and win a lottery second-chance drawing. Legitimate lotteries don’t award prizes through random drawings of email addresses or phone numbers, or based on non-lottery purchases.
  • They call from an out-of-state or foreign phone number: The Maryland Lottery office is located in Baltimore and has a local telephone number (410-230-8800).
  • The message notifying you of the win contains poor grammar or spelling: Many scam attempts are awkwardly worded and are sent from email addresses that, at first glance, appear to be legitimate. But upon closer inspection, scam email addresses often contain slight misspellings. An email actually sent from Maryland Lottery staff will be from a Maryland State Government address that ends in “maryland.gov.”
  • They claim to represent Mega Millions or Powerball: Mega Millions and Powerball do not have “representatives” who contact people to award prizes. Prizes are won by buying tickets and matching the winning numbers that are drawn.

Report Suspicious Contacts Immediately

If you believe you have been the victim of a lottery scam attempt, it is a matter that must be investigated by law enforcement officials. Please call your local police. You may also wish to contact the Maryland Office of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 410-528-8662, or click here to make a report to the Federal Trade Commission.

My Lottery Rewards Winner Notifications

Members of the Maryland Lottery’s Communications staff will email or call winners of the Maryland Lottery’s second-chance promotions that are operated through our My Lottery Rewards player loyalty program. When we do, we’ll use the contact information currently available in your Rewards account. The following information can help you tell the difference between these communications and lottery scams:

  • We publish second-chance winners’ names: Lists of second-chance winners are found in the Drawings & Winners section of the My Lottery Rewards website, and some winner lists are also available in the Promotions section of mdlottery.com. That means second-chance winners always have an easy way to verify whether they have won a My Lottery Rewards promotion and the legitimacy of emails or phone calls from our staff.
  • We call second-chance winners from our office: The caller ID will display our phone number (410-230-8800), or “MD Lottery,” or “State of Maryland.”
  • We email second-chance winners using State of Maryland accounts: Emails you receive that are legitimately from the Maryland Lottery will be sent from address that ends in “maryland.gov.”
  • We don’t send text messages or social media messages: My Lottery Rewards winner notifications are done by email or phone, and if we haven’t received a response to emails or calls, we may also send a letter to the address on file in your Rewards account. We occasionally run contests through our verified Facebook and Instagram accounts, and winners of those contests may receive direct messages from the Lottery’s Facebook or Instagram accounts. But, we do not use texts or social media for My Lottery Rewards winner notifications.
  • We direct second-chance winners to file an official claim form: For reference, a copy of the Maryland Lottery’s official claim form is available via the How To Claim page of our website.
  • We don’t ask for payment: The Maryland Lottery will never ask a second-chance winner them to pay money in order to claim prizes.

Report Fraud in State Government

Allegations of fraud and/or abuse of State resources can include but are not limited to theft, corruption, significant violations of laws and regulations, and vendor kickbacks. If you are aware of fraud committed by State employees and/or the abuse of State resources, please help us by reporting these allegations to the Office of Legislative Audits at the link below. Information received is considered confidential. You can remain anonymous.

Report allegations of fraud and/or abuse of State resources here.