RALEIGH, N.C. — No. You are not rubbing elbows with North Carolina's Powerball Jackpot winner.
NC Lottery officials say scammers are posing as the jackpot winner through emails and social media, and - stop me if you've heard this one before - promising to give you money as long as you give them something in return.
In the email scam, the scammer offers to make a $4 million donation to an organization. The scammer then asks for $500 as a minimum deposit in the banking account that would "provide the donation to the group."
Oh, but that's not all. The fakes and phonies are even on social media posing as the jackpot winner, using photos of the jackpot winner. They say they're going to give away money to their social media followers.
"Gonna be blessing lucky people with $5,000," said one scammer.
Another said: "I'm giving away $100,000 to my first 2k followers $$."
And that's how they try to suck you in, and get all your personal information.
“Unfortunately, scams like these are all too common,” said Mark Michalko, executive director of the N.C. Education Lottery. “Anyone who makes a promise of a donation or prize but wants you to give money first is trying to trick you. Never give your money or personal information to these people.”
ALLOW ME TO REPEAT THIS VITAL INFORMATION: DO NOT GIVE YOUR MONEY TO THESE PEOPLE.
Lottery officials say as of Thursday, they've spotted 36 cases of social media impersonators of the jackpot winner. NC Lottery is reporting the fake sites to the social media platform.
Not today, scammers.