Protect Yourself

Protect Yourself Against Lottery Fraud

Unfortunately there are dishonest individuals and groups who make their living by operating scams designed to trick people into thinking they’ve won a lottery prize. Their goal is to convince victims to provide personal information or pay fake “processing fees” and “taxes” through a wire transfer or money order.

Unless you specifically entered a Colorado Lottery promotion, you will never be contacted by us. If you did not purchase a Lottery ticket or enter a 2nd chance drawing, you cannot win a prize.

Listed below are some general guidelines to help you avoid becoming a victim of fraud.

• Never respond to any emails stating you have won a lottery prize on a game you did not play or promotion you haven’t entered.
• Lotteries do not ask for fees to collect winnings. Any request for a fee payment is a good indication that someone is trying to defraud you.
• Never disclose your bank details or pay fees in advance or wire money overseas for any lottery.
• Never respond to an email address that is not from the official Colorado State Lottery website and be very suspicious of addresses such as @hotmail.com or @yahoo.com accounts. All state emails are firstname.lastname@state.co.us.
• If they ask you to keep your win a secret it’s likely to be a fraud.
• Many fraudulent lotteries have bad spelling and grammar.
• Never purchase tickets from foreign lotteries by phone, mail or the Internet.
• The sale and trafficking in foreign lottery tickets is a violation of federal criminal law.
• If a check with a large dollar amount arrives at your home from an unknown person, do not cash it. Obtain advice from your financial institution.

If you feel you have been a victim of fraud:

• Read the information and tips put out by the Federal Trade Commission about scams.
• Forward the suspicious e‐mail to the Federal Trade Commission's email address spam@uce.gov.
• Notify the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) of the FBI by filing a complaint on their website.

Player Tips

As a player, you are entitled to certain rights and privileges when you buy or redeem a Lottery ticket.

Review your purchase. Look over and count your tickets BEFORE you leave the Lottery terminal to make sure you've received exactly what you ordered. If you select your own numbers, check your tickets at the time of purchase to make sure the numbers on them match the numbers you selected. If needed, speak to the clerk or store manager to resolve any concerns BEFORE leaving the store.

Retailers are not permitted to sell pre‐printed draw tickets. To verify such information, check your ticket's time and date stamp at the time of purchase.

Sign your ticket. Sign the back of your ticket as soon as you purchase it to establish ownership.

Check your ticket in a ticket checker. Before you present your ticket to be validated by a retailer, determine on your own whether your ticket is a winning one by using a ticket checker available at select retailers, the Lottery vending machine in select retailers or by using the Colorado Lottery's mobile app or by checking our website.

Ticket validation. When a retailer validates your ticket, the terminal’s monitor will display the amount won on the screen and play an audible sound. If your ticket is a winning one, you may ask to keep the "payout" voucher to verify your prize. Once a ticket is cashed it becomes the property of the Colorado Lottery. To verify that your ticket is not a winner, ask to keep your non‐winning ticket.