MADISON, WI (WTAQ) — Just because the $1.1 billion Mega Millions jackpot has been won by someone in the Chicago suburbs doesn’t mean scammers are calling it quits on lotto scams.
Susan Bach with the Better Business Bureau says scammers are sending out texts and emails pretending to be the winner and promising you money.
“People are using the name of the lottery winners to solicit the name or personal information from other people,” Bach told WTAQ. “You may receive a text message saying ‘I’m the new billionaire lottery winner and I want to share some of my winnings with you’, and then they’ll ask for fees or some personal information.”
Bach says this has been done before, and very recently, too. Scammers have frequently impersonated Manuel Franco, a West Allis man who won Powerball, and we have had at least one report of a scammer impersonating Cliff and Tammy Webster, the Oneida couple who hit the jackpot in January 2022.
Bach says if you get a text or email like that, delete it.
