THE SCAM
The prize you won but never entered.
You won a sweepstakes. A big check, maybe a new car — and the caller knows your name, sounds official, and can describe the prize in detail. The only catch: before they can hand it over, you have to pay the "taxes," "processing fees," or "shipping" first. That's the whole trick. The prize doesn't exist, and the fees are the scam.
They want the payment in a way you can't take back: gift cards, a wire transfer, or crypto. Real sweepstakes never work like this. You never pay to collect a prize — the moment a "win" costs you money, it's not a win.
THE RED FLAG
You won a contest you never entered. That's the first alarm — real sweepstakes are ones you actually signed up for. The second alarm is the invoice: taxes, fees, delivery charges, all due now, before you see a cent.
The third alarm is how they want it paid. Gift cards, wires, and crypto are the payment methods of scams, because once the money moves, it's gone. A real prize doesn't need your gift card balance to reach you.
THE RULE
Never pay to receive a prize. If a contest needs your money before it gives you money, it isn't a contest — it's a bill dressed up as a jackpot. Real prizes arrive; they don't invoice you first.
And if the caller says don't tell anyone: that's the tell. Scammers want silence because a friend would smell it in one sentence. Tell someone, and the spell breaks.
(Source: Refresher — classic scam type: FTC consumer alerts on prize and sweepstakes scams; Publishers Clearing House winner notices (real winners never pay to collect))
SIGN-OFF
That's today's red flag. One scam, one red flag, one rule — pass it to someone who clicks first and asks questions later.
Got a scam text or a sketchy email? Send it via the contact page — the best ones make future red flags.