Is The Lottery Office A Scam?
It’s easy to see why people are so wary of scams these days. In 2022 alone, Australians were scammed out of over $565 million, and that doesn’t count all the unreported cases.
Digital technology has given unscrupulous operators all the tools they need to trick people into handing over their hard-earned money. Text messages, social media and email are all regularly used to try and clean out innocent peoples’ bank accounts.
The online lottery industry is not immune, with over $1.7 million fraudulently taken in 2020. Is The Lottery Office a scam? Definitely not! As a Government licensed and audited company, we pride ourselves on our impeccable record of paying out customers stretching back to 2003. You’re safe playing lotto online with us.
Read on to find out how you can be sure we’re the good guys!
Read About The Lottery Office in the Media
A great way to help you work out if someone is trying to scam you is to see if you can find any information about them in the mainstream media. The Lottery Office has been in the news many times, including a story on 9 News about one of our customers from Sydney who was one number away from a world-record online gambling win of AUD$500 million!
The number she needed was 51 and the customer had 50. This is a good example of how a mainstream website can help verify the validity of a business.
Check out some of our news coverage to see how we’re safely giving Australians the chance to win from international lottery draws.
The reason mainstream media sites are a good place to look is because they usually aren’t willing to write stories that might help scammers or illegitimate businesses. This is because this can hurt a media site’s reputation. Mainstream media sites are far more trustworthy than review websites, as review sites allow people to write anonymous, fake reviews so they could have been written by anyone, including the scammers themselves!
If there’s no mention of a business anywhere online, or if you find articles that show that they are scammers, then it’s a good idea to stay away.
The Lottery Office Social Media
Almost every legitimate business should have some sort of social media presence these days.
If you can’t find a social media page, or if a business page has very few followers, or very little content, then it’s a bit of a red flag.
The Lottery Office can be found on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X (formerly known as Twitter). When you visit these pages, it’s quickly obvious that we’re very active on social media and post regularly, which is another sign of a legitimate business.
The Lottery Office is Government Licensed
Still not convinced? Still asking yourself, ‘is The Lottery Office a scam’ or ‘is The Lottery Office legit’?
The Lottery Office has been Government licensed to conduct and sell lotteries over the internet since 2014, and our parent company, Global Players Network, has been Government licensed to sell a range of lottery products since 2003. In that time well over a million lottery prizes, including several large first division wins, have been paid out.
Don’t just take our word for it! You can view our Internet Gaming Licence by visiting the Northern Territory Government website. In the ‘Licence Number’ field type in IGL1001, which is our licence number and click ‘Search’.
As you can see, we’re legitimately licensed. With this comes a requirement to be continuously audited by the Northern Territory Government to ensure we meet all the obligations set out in the conditions of our licence, such as making sure that all our players are over the age of 18.
Check out our FAQs to find out more about us.
How Can You Tell if it’s a Scam?
There are a few checks you can do to help work out if someone is trying to scam you.
Firstly, if you haven’t bought a lottery ticket, you most definitely haven’t won anything; people don’t win a lottery by not entering one!
If you receive a text or email claiming that you’ve won money in a lottery and you haven’t bought a ticket, there’s a good chance it could be a scam. If you receive an email or text and have doubts that it’s legitimately from The Lottery Office, please contact our Customer Support team and they can confirm if it was from us or if it’s a scam.
The Lottery Office will never ask you for money before giving you your winnings, but some scams ask you to send money to ‘release’ your winnings. This should be a dead giveaway that it’s a scam.
If the message is not addressed to you personally, or if it claims that there’s a deadline to claim your reward, then stay clear!
The Australian Cyber Security Centre has some great tips on how to identify a scam.
What to do if You Suspect You’ve Been Scammed
What if you suspect that you’ve been scammed? Here are some immediate steps you can take to help protect yourself from further harm:
- Contact your bank and explain the situation. You might have a case for reimbursement from your bank.
- If you think you may have had your identity stolen, contact IDCARE on 1800 595 160 and follow their instructions.
- If it’s proven to be a scam, you can report it to Scamwatch at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
- Report it to Police, through the ReportCyber website.
You’re Safe Playing With The Lottery Office
Now that we’ve answered the question ‘is The Lottery Office a scam’, why not see if we can help you be the next to take home a fat prize from an overseas lottery draw.
FAQ
What are online scams?
Online scams are attempts to trick people into handing over their money to a 'scammer'. They can also be used to steal personal details, which in some cases can enable scammers to steal your online identity and access your important online resources, such as your email and bank accounts. Is The Lottery Office a scam? Definitely not, we are licensed and audited by the Northern Territory Government of Australia.
How online scams work
Online scams are usually committed by criminals who tend to use tried and tested methods to get hold of your money or personal details. They can come from emails, texts, phone calls and untrustworthy websites. They usually attempt to trick you into sending money or revealing your personal details to them. If you suspect something may be a scam, be sure to research it and also consider asking for someone else's opinion about it. It's better to be safe than scammed.
Can you report online scams to the Police?
Yes. If you suspect someone is trying to scam you, contact the ReportCyber website at the link below.
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