Elderly Granite Staters targeted in sweepstakes scams

CONCORD - A consumer alert has been issued by the Attorney Generals Office for elderly New Hampshire residents following a rise in reports of scammers perpetrating lottery and sweepstakes scams.

In these scams, a scammer contacts the victim and falsely claims that the victim has won a lottery or sweepstakes, such as the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes. The scammer tells the victim that before the prize money can be issued, the victim must pay certain fees upfront, such as taxes, legal fees, or processing fees. In many cases, the scammer instructs the victim to pay these fees by wire transfer, Bitcoin ATM, or prepaid gift or debit cards. In two recent reports, the scammers demanded fees in increments of $8,500.00.

The AG's Office offers the following tips to avoid falling victim:

• You must enter a lottery or sweepstakes in order to win a prize. If you did not enter a lottery, sweepstakes, or other contest, you should ignore any notices claiming that you won.
• You will never have to pay a fee to claim a prize from any legitimate sweepstakes or lottery.

• PCH never calls in advance to inform you that you have won. If you receive a call from someone claiming to be from PCH, hang up and call PCH at 1-800-392-4190 to report the scam.

• Never provide money or personal information to an unsolicited call, email, or text message. You should assume that any unfamiliar and unsolicited call, email, or text message requesting money or personal information is a scam.

• If you have concerns that a contact might be legitimate, independently research the contact information of the person or business and contact them through their publicly available contact information to verify the authenticity of the request.

If anyone has fallen victim to this or another scam, immediately report it to the local police department, the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau of the Attorney General's Office at (603) 271-3641, and the Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau of Adult and Aging Services at 1-800-949-0470. Complaints may also be made to the Consumer Hotline by email at https://www.doj.nh.gov/consumer/complaints/index.htm.