According to the FTC, sweepstakes, prize, and lottery frauds are among the top scams people report. These scams usually start with a call, text, or email that says you’re a winner. They say to get the so-called prize you must send money or click somewhere to give your information. The most recent FTC data shows people reported losing $301 million to this type of fraud. That’s an average loss of $907 per person.

It can be hard to differentiate these scams from the legitimate contests and prizes that follow the law and give real prizes. So how do you know the difference?

The first question to ask yourself after receiving one of these messages is, “Did I recently enter a sweepstakes or play the lottery?”. If you have not, then this is a scam. But if you have, here are some more things to help you distinguish between scam and prize:

• Don’t pay to get a prize. Real prizes are free. Anyone who asks you to pay a fee for “taxes,” “shipping and handling charges,” or “processing fees” to get your prize, is a scammer.

• Don’t provide your financial information. There is no reason to ever give your bank account or credit card number to claim a prize. If anyone asks for it, it’s a scam.
• Be wary of opening links. Scammers hope you’ll click on links that will take your personal information or download malware on your device. Delete the message without clicking on the links and don’t respond.