You open the mail and\u2014surprise!\u2014you are the winner of the Foreign National Bank Lottery and need only wire a small $50 processing fee to a foreign bank to claim your $1-million jackpot. You think, this must be your lucky day: you didn\u2019t even buy a lottery ticket, and now you\u2019re going to be a millionaire\u2014it\u2019s simply too good to be true. You\u2019re right, it is too good to be true. The described notice exhibits the telltale signs of fraud. Keep your hard-earned dollars and place the notice where it belongs: the trashcan.<\/p>\n
Scammers are always on the prowl with schemes like these, but you can protect yourself from these tempting deceptions by recognizing a scam when you see one. Be on the lookout for the following signs of a scam:<\/p>\n
\u2022 You never entered the lottery. One sure sign that it\u2019s a scam: you never entered the lottery. If it were legitimate, you\u2019d be familiar with it because you\u2019d have taken an affirmative act to enter the lottery.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Money upfront. If you need to pay some sort of fee or tax before receiving your so-called prize, you can be certain that it\u2019s a scam. Do not send money. I repeat, do not send money\u2014you\u2019ll never receive the promised award.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Wire payment. Be especially on guard for wire payments. Anyone who asks you to wire money is trying to avoid detection. Once you wire money, it\u2019s pretty much impossible to get it back. As a general rule, never wire money to someone who you do not know.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Bank information. Always be wary of any source asking for your bank information. If you\u2019re required to provide your bank information before receiving some prize, you can be sure that it\u2019s a scam. Don\u2019t be tempted by the lure of money\u2014never provide your bank account information to an unknown solicitor.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Sounds too good to be true. If a deal sounds too good to be true, it\u2019s almost certain that it is. Don\u2019t fall for it.<\/p>\n
Now that you know what to look out for, don\u2019t be fooled. If you encounter a suspected scam or if you believe you\u2019ve been a victim of such a scam, report them to the Attorney General (cnmiconsumercounsel@gmail.com) and the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov).<\/p>\n
The information contained in this article is for general informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice to any individual or entity. This information is not intended to create, and the reading of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You open the mail and\u2014surprise!\u2014you are the winner of the Foreign National Bank Lottery and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2626,9613],"class_list":["post-220489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-attorney-general","tag-federal-trade-commission"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220489\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}