Is Facebook Running An Annual Lottery Game Prize?

Are we running an annual lottery game prize

Lottery scams on Facebook are among the most prevalent scams, with fraudsters using fake accounts to send messages that appear from friends or family and claim that the recipient has won in an official Facebook lottery or sweepstakes and must pay an advance fee before receiving prize money. Furthermore, scammers request personal and/or bank account information which they could then use against the victim either to steal his identity or commit other forms of crime.

Scammers take advantage of people’s trust by hijacking or cloning existing social media accounts in order to access people’s friend lists and information. Fake messages often ask for payment to cover shipping and handling costs, taxes or processing fees; those who fall for it and send funds will never see their prize come their way.

An authentic lottery or sweepstakes won’t request personal data like bank account details from participants; similarly, lottery prizes cannot be distributed to people who didn’t buy tickets in order to claim them.

Facebook does not operate a lottery or sweepstakes, so any message claiming otherwise is likely fraudulent. According to the Better Business Bureau, reports of lottery-related scams often come through its Scam Tracker service on Facebook; social media companies do not typically run lotteries or sweepstakes of this nature.