Scammers pose as your favorite charity to sell fake sweepstakes prizes

thefraudbriefing

3 days ago

1 min read

The FTC warns of callers who say you won a sweepstakes sponsored by a charity you support, sometimes because you donated, and then ask for a fee or your Social Security number to collect. They use real charity names or look-alikes, fake caller ID, and paid ads on Google and Bing.

What to do: Never pay to claim a prize; it is illegal to require payment. Look up the charity yourself before giving anything this giving season.

Source: FTC, Oct 26

This story was part of The Fraud Briefing's Top 5 for the week ending November 1, 2026. Get it in your inbox every week: subscribe here. Watch the 20-second version on YouTube at @thefraudbriefing.

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