Scammers prey on gullible internet users in vulnerable states of mind, targeting millions of people each year with lottery scams. So, if you’re feeling extra lucky this month it doesn’t mean that you’ve actually won.
In light of the upcoming National Lottery Day, celebrated every year on July 17, we want to remind consumers to remain vigilant and offer some handy tips and tricks to help you spot these swindles so you can protect your identity and finances.
Lottery scams may target you via email, text, messages on social media or even the postal office, and Bitdefender Antispam Lab researchers have spotted multiple spam campaigns now targeting users' inboxes across the world, including in the US.
Here’s just a taste of what lottery-themed scams our researchers spotted this week:
All the above emails are scams designed to steal your money and personally identifiable information. The cybercrooks impersonating representatives of both well-known and made-up lottery organizations claim that you’ve won millions of dollars after your email address was randomly selected.
Before receiving your grand prize, you’re asked to provide identifiable data, including your name, address, job title, passport and mobile phone number, among others.
But trying to access your winnings will actually cost you money.
If you want to improve your cybersecurity posture and fend off scams and fraud attempts, check out Bitdefender’s all-in-one security plans. You can block phishing and nasty internet threats while benefiting from a premium VPN, a password manager, and identity theft protection (for the US only) to stay on top of data breaches and stop fraud attempts.
Read more about our ultimate-mega suite here.
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Alina is a history buff passionate about cybersecurity and anything sci-fi, advocating Bitdefender technologies and solutions. She spends most of her time between her two feline friends and traveling.
View all postsSeptember 06, 2024
September 02, 2024