Nokia is warning anyone who is contacted about the ‘Nokia Lottery’ that it’s a scam and has nothing to do with Nokia.
This scam has been in operation for at least two years, but Nokia continues to receive reports of people being sent scam emails about the non-existent Nokia Lottery.
How does the Nokia Lottery scam work?
No, it's a scam. Scammers use a few variations of the Nokia Lottery scam to try to con money out of people.
In some cases, victims receive an email saying they’ve been chosen at random to receive a prize, which is usually a large sum of money.
Victims are told that in order to receive their winnings they must send some money as an ‘administration charge’. This is an ‘advance fee fraud’; if the email recipients send the money, they will never see their money again. Sometimes advance fee fraudsters come back to ask for further ‘fees’ to cover more costs before they release the prize. There is no prize and the victim loses any money they’ve paid.
In other cases of the Nokia Lottery scam, victims receive a text message saying they’ve won a large sum of money. They’re told they must first phone a number or send an email to hand over their bank details. Fraudsters can go on to use these details to commit fraud using a person’s identity, which can lead to huge debts accumulating in the victim’s name.
Anyone who has lost money to any type of fraud should report it to Action Fraud.
Read more about the Nokia Lottery scam on Nokia’s website.
Please note: Action Fraud is not responsible for the content on external websites.
To report a fraud, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use our online fraud reporting tool.