Is the message saying you have won a lottery prize real? If you did not buy a ticket, it fits a lottery scam in Canada that the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) describes in five words: “No winnings are ever received.” Lottery bodies in Ontario, Atlantic Canada, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba each say they do not ask for money to claim a prize. This guide also covers the offer that often comes next, a promise to get your lost money back.
Is a message saying you won a lottery prize real?
No, not if you did not buy a ticket. The CAFC defines a prize scam as fraudsters contacting you “to tell you that you’ve won, or have a chance at winning, a prize or lottery.” It can arrive by email, mail, telephone, social media or a website pop-up.
The CAFC’s page on prize scams, last modified on January 16, 2026, says the payment comes first. You are asked to pay an advance fee or buy something, sometimes through a money transfer service or with prepaid gift cards, and the winnings never arrive.
The CAFC lists two versions. In the foreign lottery version, the message says you won and must pay fees to claim the prize, although you did not travel to buy a ticket. In the prize winner call, the caller claims to represent a well-known contest brand and asks for a small fee for taxes, legal fees or delivery costs. The page has no checklist of warning signs. Some lottery corporations do publish warning signs, and the next section sets them side by side.
What do the lottery corporations say they will never do?
Most of the bodies in the table draw the same line: a real prize does not come with a fee. OLG, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, says it “will never ask” customers “for any kind of payment in order to claim a prize.” Each provincial corporation writes its warning for its own customers, and a guide to who runs regulated gambling in each province names them. The table shows who says what.
| Province | What the published warning says | Number the page gives |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | OLG will never ask for payment to claim a prize | OLG, 1-800-387-0098 (for suspected fraud after buying or redeeming a ticket) |
| Alberta | Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) says it and the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC) do not contact people about winnings or ask for money to claim a prize, and that messages about a win “from AGLC” or from WCLC should be disregarded | CAFC, 1-888-495-8501 |
| N.B., N.S., P.E.I. and N.L. | Atlantic Lottery will never ask for money or gift cards to claim a prize | Customer Care Centre, 1-800-561-3942 |
| Quebec | Loto-Québec never tells people in its social media posts that they have won | 1 866 611-LOTO (5686) |
| British Columbia | BCLC says a prize notification that appears to be from it “was not sent by BCLC” and advises against sending funds by cash, cheque or wire transfer | 1-888-495-8501 (the page names PhoneBusters) |
| Saskatchewan and Manitoba | WCLC, whose jurisdiction includes both provinces, says you will “never be asked to pay money to claim a legitimate lottery prize” | CAFC, 1-888-495-8501 |
Each row speaks only for the body named in it. AGLC’s notice, which carries no date, says anyone who gets a message or call “from AGLC” or “from the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC)” saying they won should “disregard it immediately.” Its notice does not name Saskatchewan or Manitoba, so those two provinces rest on WCLC’s own page.
WCLC’s page on lottery scams, which carries no date, gives its jurisdiction as Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon. It says that if you did not buy a ticket or enter a contest in its region, you are not entitled to a prize. BCLC’s corporate FAQ, also undated, answers a reader who received spam emails that appear to be from BCLC.
Atlantic Lottery says it “will not contact you to say you won a prize if you did not purchase an online ticket on alc.ca” and awards online prizes only through players’ official alc.ca accounts. Those sentences cover online tickets, not tickets bought in a store.
Loto-Québec, in French, says it never intervenes in its social media posts to tell people they have won or to ask them to click on links. Its page says a fraudulent email tries to alarm you about your account, opens with a generic greeting such as “Cher client”, promises a win, contains spelling mistakes and comes from an address that only resembles Loto-Québec’s.
OLG, on a page published February 1, 2023 and last modified March 27, 2023, lists six signs of a lottery scam:
- you did not buy a ticket
- you have never heard of the lottery game
- you did not register your name, address, email address, phone number and a credit card before buying a ticket on an online lottery website
- you do not live in the country of the lottery and are not a citizen of it
- you are asked to pay fees or taxes up front to release your “win”
- you are told to reply within a set time or the money will go to someone else
Do you have to pay a fee or tax to collect a prize?
Not for a legitimate lottery. The Competition Bureau’s The Little Black Book of Scams, a Canadian edition dated 2017, says: “Legitimate lotteries do not require you to pay a fee or tax to collect winnings.” The same guide says: “You cannot win money or a prize in a contest unless you have entered it yourself.” OLG lists a request to pay fees or taxes up front as a sign of fraud. A real prize does not charge to be released.
Scammers also give tax as the reason for a payment. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) lists “lottery winnings of any amount, unless the prize can be considered income from employment, a business or property, or a prize for achievement” among amounts that are not taxed, on a page last modified on September 17, 2026. That concerns a real win on a tax return. It is no reason to pay anyone to receive a prize, and it is not tax advice.
What is a recovery scam?
A recovery scam, which the CAFC calls a recovery pitch, is a second approach to a person who already lost money. The CAFC says that “fraudsters may target you again with a promise to get your money back.” The catch matches the prize scam: money has to go out first.
The CAFC describes four forms, in its own examples:
- a call to someone who earlier paid for tech support, in which “the company” says it is going bankrupt, offers refunds and asks for computer access and an online banking sign-in
- an email from a recognized company saying a payment could not be processed and asking you to call a number
- a contact claiming to be from a government department or law enforcement agency, asking for help with a “sting” operation against the fraudsters who took your money
- a message saying your lost funds were recovered, with an advance fee to pay before you get them back
Its advice has four parts: never be afraid to hang up the phone, never give an unknown person remote access to a device, always use a reputable local business for repairs and “Never pay an advance fee to obtain a refund.”
How do the callers find people? A CAFC bulletin about investment scams, republished by the Financial and Consumer Services Commission of New Brunswick (FCNB) on July 20, 2023, says fraudsters “retain a list and contact previous investment scam victims by telephone, email, social media”. It also warns: “Don’t assume the top results mean companies are legitimate.” That bulletin covers investment scams, and this guide does not say the same holds for gambling losses.
Being contacted again says nothing about the person: the CAFC states that fraudsters “often target victims of fraud a second or third time with the promise of recovering money.”
What if the caller says they are from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre?
Hang up. The CAFC warned on December 13, 2023: “Fraudsters are impersonating the CAFC by claiming to assist with an ongoing investigation to recover previously lost funds or to arrest an individual.” The CAFC and the police “will never ask you to transfer funds or make a payment of any kind.”
A CAFC bulletin from July 2, 2026 says reports of this impersonation are still increasing, as part of fraud investigator and recovery frauds. According to the bulletin, the CAFC and the police will never ask you to transfer money, ask for remote access to your computer or device, ask for banking information, passwords or verification codes, or ask you to join an investigation by sending money.
Fraudsters may ask you to pay administrative fees, taxes or legal costs, security deposits, or cryptocurrency or wire transfer fees. If such a call reaches you, hang up and call your financial institution using the number on the back of your card, never contact details the caller supplies.
The CAFC’s protection advice puts it simply: “If you didn’t initiate the call, you don’t know who you’re talking to.” Its report page says: “It’s the role of your local police to investigate.” The CAFC keeps a central record to help them, and the page describes no service that recovers money.
Can anyone get your money back from a gambling site for a fee?
No office named in this guide promises it. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) says on its complaints page: “We can’t get your money back or make a gaming site give you your money back.” AGLC says the same in nearly the same words. Anyone who asks for a fee in advance to recover money from a gambling site promises more than the provincial regulators do.
The AGCO can act when an operator registered with the AGCO breaks the rules, and AGLC describes its dispute process for regulated sites. Neither settles a money dispute for you. A complaint can only go further if there is a regulator to take it to.
A different problem is a withdrawal that a real, registered site has not paid. That has a route of its own, from the site’s complaints process to the regulator, set out in what to do when a gambling site has not paid your withdrawal. For other gambling scams, see other gambling scams and where to complain.
No official source reviewed here describes recovery offers aimed at gambling losses; the CAFC describes the pattern for fraud in general. This guide gives general information and is not legal advice.
How much money do these scams take?
For 2025, the CAFC reports 403 prize scam reports with $5.7 million in reported losses, and 933 recovery pitch reports with $25.9 million. The recovery pitch figures are higher on both counts. Each figure covers every fraud of that type, not only gambling.
The CAFC published them on February 25, 2026, in its list of top frauds for 2025, where all fraud came to over 112,000 reports and more than $704 million in reported losses. The table also counts 151 victims in the prize row and 569 in the recovery pitch row. It gives no share of fraud that goes unreported, and this guide does not estimate one.
Where do you report a lottery scam in Canada, and where can you get help?
Report it to the CAFC online at reportcyberandfraud.canada.ca or by phone at 1-888-495-8501, and to your local police if money or details were handed over. The CAFC says you can report anonymously. Reporting does not return money, but it puts the message on record. These steps apply in any province:
- Stop. Do not reply, pay or send documents. Save the message, the sender’s number or address and the date. The CAFC asks for “documents, receipts, copies of emails and/or text messages.”
- Check the claim with the lottery corporation yourself, using a number from its own website, not from the message. For callers who claim to be from a financial institution, service provider, law enforcement or government agency, the CAFC’s rule is to “hang up and make the outgoing call.”
- Report it to the CAFC, online or by phone, even if you did not lose money. The CAFC recommends reporting “whether you are a victim or not.”
- If you paid or shared details, tell the financial institution that transferred the money. For a credit or debit card, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says to contact your card issuer “right away” if you notice an unauthorized or suspicious transaction.
- Report it to your local police and get a file number. The CAFC’s victim page adds flagging accounts, changing passwords and reporting to both credit bureaus if identity fraud is a concern.
None of these steps carries a promise of a refund. Expect a second approach, because recovery pitches are aimed at people who already lost money. An offer to undo the loss for a fee is the same scam again.
Reporting a scam is separate from getting help with gambling. If gambling is affecting you or a loved one, ConnexOntario offers free and confidential support in Ontario at 1-866-531-2600. In Alberta, call the Alberta Health Services Addiction Helpline at 1-866-332-2322. In British Columbia, Gambling Support BC is at 1-888-795-6111, and in Quebec, Jeu: aide et référence is at 1 800 461-0140. Other provinces have their own helplines.
One rule covers both halves of this guide: the party that contacted you first is the one you cannot verify, so call back only using a number you found yourself.
What do people ask most about prize and recovery scams?
Can you win a lottery you did not enter?
No. The Competition Bureau’s Little Black Book of Scams says: “You cannot win money or a prize in a contest unless you have entered it yourself.”
Do you pay tax or a fee before collecting lottery winnings in Canada?
Not for a legitimate lottery, says the Competition Bureau’s guide: such lotteries “do not require you to pay a fee or tax to collect winnings.” The CRA lists lottery winnings among amounts not taxed, with exceptions. This is general information, not tax advice.
Does the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre call people to help recover lost money?
A call that asks for money is not from the CAFC. The CAFC says fraudsters impersonate it, and that it and the police will never ask you to transfer money, give remote access to a device or share passwords or verification codes. Hang up, then report the call.
Where do you report a lottery scam in Canada?
Report it to the CAFC online at reportcyberandfraud.canada.ca or by phone at 1-888-495-8501, and to your local police. Check the claim with the lottery corporation named in the message, using a number from its own website.
What should you do if you already paid a fee to claim a prize?
Tell the financial institution that transferred the money, report it to your local police to get a file number, and report it to the CAFC. None of these offices promises a refund. Expect a second approach: the CAFC says fraudsters often target victims again with a promise of recovering money.
Can a regulator get your money back from a gambling site?
No. The AGCO says it can’t get your money back or make a site give it back, and AGLC says the same. Both describe complaint processes for regulated sites, and neither describes a fee-based recovery service.
Sources
All sources were accessed on October 6, 2026.
- Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Prize. Last modified January 16, 2026.
- Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Recovery pitch. Last modified January 16, 2026.
- Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre Impersonation, July 2, 2026.
- Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Top 10 frauds in 2025, February 25, 2026.
- Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Report fraud. Last modified November 27, 2025.
- Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, What to do if you’re a victim of fraud. Last modified January 16, 2026.
- Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Protect yourself. Last modified January 14, 2026.
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Report cybercrime and fraud.
- Financial and Consumer Services Commission of New Brunswick, Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre bulletin: recovery pitch, investment scams, July 20, 2023.
- OLG, Protecting yourself. Published February 1, 2023, last modified March 27, 2023.
- Atlantic Lottery, Stay informed, stay safe. No date shown.
- Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis, Lottery prize scams. No date shown.
- Loto-Québec, Sécurité et intégrité (in French). No date shown.
- Western Canada Lottery Corporation, Identifying Lottery Scams. No date shown.
- BCLC, Corporate FAQ. No date shown.
- Competition Bureau Canada, The Little Black Book of Scams, Canadian edition, February 15, 2017.
- Canada Revenue Agency, Amounts that are not taxed. Last modified September 17, 2026.
- Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, Internet gaming complaints.
- Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis, iGaming disputes.
- Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, Protection against unauthorized transactions.
- ConnexOntario, Mental health, addiction and problem gambling services.
- Alberta Health Services, Addiction Helpline.
- Gambling Support BC, Gambling Support BC.
- Jeu: aide et référence, aidejeu.ca (in French).