The Pennsylvania Lottery Office is warning of a Foreign Lottery Scam, saying people should be cautious. 

According to the Lottery office, callers have reported the scam, which appears to be originating in Jamaica, saying a person with a Caribbean accent is calling residents in Pennsylvania claiming that they are a winner of a Mega Millions sweepstakes or that they have won a prize from another popular lottery game. The scammer encourages the victim to make a payment for taxes or other costs to facilitate the processing of the fictitious prize.

Scammers have been known to falsely claim to represent a lottery organization, sometimes posing as real employees whose names can be found through the Internet. Scammers will sometimes offer a 'badge number' or other made-up information to try to sound legitimate. They'll also use the names of real lotteries and lottery games, including multi-state games like Mega Millions.

Many of the scam operators are located offshore, beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement. Scammers will often set up fake websites and telephone switchboards to hide their whereabouts, creating a 'spoofed' phone number, which makes it appear on a caller ID display that a call is coming from a real entity or a U.S. area code.

"Unfortunately, these types of scams are quite common - especially during times of crisis, such as a pandemic, when people may be vulnerable," said Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko. "It's important to know that the Pennsylvania Lottery will only contact players if they won a Second-Chance Drawing, a giveaway into which a player may have submitted an entry, or to collect their winning story. We never call or email people at random."

Warning signs of a scam include:

• If you are told to buy a pre-paid debit card to pay an up-front 'processing fee" or taxes - this is a major hallmark of a scam.
• If you are asked for personal financial information, such as bank account routing numbers.
• If you're told, the supposed prize is in pounds, euros, or anything other than dollars.
• If an email contains poor grammar or misspellings, or if a caller states they are - or sounds as if they could be - calling from outside the United States.
• If you are instructed to keep the news of your supposed "win" a secret.
  If you are told that you can "verify" the prize by calling a certain number.
• That number may be part of the scam. Instead of calling it, look up the lottery or organization on your own to find out its real contact information, then call and ask to speak with security.

"We encourage players who may receive suspicious lottery-related calls or emails to contact us, and we can answer any questions they may have," Svitko said. "Our website contains a contact page to help players reach our headquarters office and our area offices across Pennsylvania."

The Pennsylvania Lottery's website, www.palottery.com, offers a variety of player security tips to educate consumers about ways to avoid email, telephone, and social media scams.

The Federal Trade Commission has more information on fake lottery and other scams. To file a complaint or get free information, call toll-free, 1-877-382-4357.

If you have been the victim of a scam, contact your local police, sheriff's office, or state police.