Sweepstakes Scam and How To Avoid Them

The fun of participating in sweepstakes has been ruined for some residents of Ohio, who have been targeted by an illegal scam.

The scam uses the lure of big rewards to drag people into spending money on its fake sweepstakes contests, according to state Attorney General Richard Cordray.

Cordray's office warned Ohio residents of the scam after recently receiving some 900 complaints about sweepstakes contests, most of which were found to be illegal.

To make matters even worse, the scam appears to have targeted elderly people.

"The number of sweepstakes scams reported in Ohio is on course to double this year," Corday said. "Unfortunately, senior citizens are most vulnerable to these sophisticated deceptions.

The scammers steal money from innocent victims by telling them to send insurance money to their accounts in order to claim a big prize. Of course, the prize is never sent in return.

Such stories are a pity considering how many legitimate sweepstakes and lotteries there are, many of which we detail on our site.

And Ohio residents need not despair. They have the legal and reputable Classic Lotto game, run by the Ohio Lottery Commission and rewarding local residents with big prizes since August 1974.

Classic Lotto is drawn three evenings each week: on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.