With all eyes on the massive Powerball and Mega Millions jackpot drawings later this week, the New Jersey Lottery is reminding all residents to beware of lottery scams, which can take all sorts of forms, including on social media, email, text messages, and phone calls.

Scammers posing as Lottery officials or prior lottery prizewinners will claim to be awarding prizes or hosting other giveaways in exchange for money upfront, information, or social engagement.

New Jersey Lottery does not know who is in possession of a winning ticket until they come forward to file a claim, and therefore will never contact a winner prior to that point.

The Powerball jackpot has ballooned to $1 billion after Monday night’s drawing produced no winners, with an estimated cash payout for the next drawing now at $516.8 million.

The current Powerball jackpot is currently the third-largest in history, trailing only the $2.04 billion jackpot won in 2022, and the $1.586 billion jackpot won in 2016.

The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.

In addition, the Mega Millions which will be drawn tonight is now worth $640 million.

Here are some tips for all residents, players and non-players alike, to stay safe from scams:

• There is never a cost or payment required to claim a lottery prize. This includes no pre-payment of taxes, no settlement of prior debts, no fees to file a claim, etc.
• Never provide your credit card number, personal banking information, passwords, money orders, or checks to anyone promising lottery winnings.
• Only purchase tickets through a NJ Lottery retailer or registered courier service.
• Do not claim a prize on behalf of someone else.
• Check that Scratch-Offs tickets are completely unscratched and have not been tampered with at the time of purchase.

In the event you are targeted for any scams, contact the New Jersey Lottery’s Security Unit immediately at (609) 599-6100. Our Security Unit takes these scams very seriously and looks into each particular scam in great detail. Additionally, report any attempted scam to the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP or at the FTC Consumer Information website.