Aug. 25 (UPI) -- The North Carolina lottery warned Friday that scammers are sending fake emails claiming people won $1 million in an online drawing.
The email tells the recipient they won the prize in an online drawing called the "Legacy Prize." It asks for personal information to be sent overseas in order to redeem the prize.
"Lottery scams, unfortunately, are all too common," said Alice Garland, executive director of the North Carolina Education Lottery. "But they can easily be avoided by looking for the warning signs."
The agency said it will never ask for personal information over email and that it doesn't know who won a lottery drawing until the winner comes forward themselves. Also, there are no overseas claim offices in the North Carolina letter, nor can players be entered into an online drawing without being a member of a players club.
Prizes of more than $100,000 are redeemed at the NCEL headquarters in Raleigh, a news release from the agency said, and players must present photo identification and proof of Social Security number.
