Counting down Brian Roche's top scams of 2024: Here's No. 5

WGAL News 8 On Your Side Consumer Investigator Brian Roche begins the countdown of the top five scams of 2024 with sweepstakes and lottery scams, which continue to claim hundreds of thousands of victims each year.The scam that never endsOur No. 5 scam for 2024 is in my countdown every year and probably will be forever.With letters, phone calls and e-mail, scammers will try really hard to make you believe that you have won the lottery. They'll try to convince you that your e-mail address or Facebook profile was selected at random.And to help you claim your winnings, they may include a large check to help you pay "taxes and fees."But before you get too excited and lose thousands of dollars, you need to realize this check is fake and it's going to bounce once you put it in the bank.Scam can take several forms In another version of this scam, the bad guys tell you to go and buy gift cards to pay the taxes and fees to get your prize. Once you give them the serial number on the back of the card - your money is gone.They may also ask you to send cryptocurrency.On my list of top five scams, this one is the easiest to avoid by remembering this: you simply cannot win a lottery that you did not buy a ticket to enter. WGAL News 8 On Your Side Consumer Investigator Brian Roche begins the countdown of the top five scams of 2024 with sweepstakes and lottery scams, which continue to claim hundreds of thousands of victims each year.The scam that never ends Our No. 5 scam for 2024 is in my countdown every year and probably will be forever.With letters, phone calls and e-mail, scammers will try really hard to make you believe that you have won the lottery. They'll try to convince you that your e-mail address or Facebook profile was selected at random.And to help you claim your winnings, they may include a large check to help you pay "taxes and fees."But before you get too excited and lose thousands of dollars, you need to realize this check is fake and it's going to bounce once you put it in the bank. Scam can take several forms In another version of this scam, the bad guys tell you to go and buy gift cards to pay the taxes and fees to get your prize. Once you give them the serial number on the back of the card - your money is gone.They may also ask you to send cryptocurrency.On my list of top five scams, this one is the easiest to avoid by remembering this: you simply cannot win a lottery that you did not buy a ticket to enter.