The Oregon Lottery is warning people about a scam in which someone impersonating the Portland man who recently won the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot offers to give away some of the money.
The lottery said a text message went out over the weekend that falsely promised Cheng “Charlie” Saephan was donating prize money to 10 citizens chosen at random. It asked those receiving the message to call a phone number to claim the winnings.
Similar messages showed up on social media. Central Oregon Daily News blocked one such post left in a comment on our Facebook page.
“Some common warning signs of phishing scams include receiving an unsolicited message with a sense of urgency or a request for personal information,” said Oregon Lottery Assistant Director of Security Justin Hedlund. “We expect there may be other scams out there trying to leverage the Powerball winner’s story, and it’s a red flag if something seems too good to be true.”
The Oregon Lottery said it will never ask you to pay a fee to access your winnings.
If you believe you’re a victim of a scam, you can report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center: https://www.ic3.gov/. If you received a suspicious text message, forward it to SPAM (7726) and report the phishing attempt to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
