Press Release

Fraud Alert: PBGC Lottery Scam

Issued by PBGC [Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation]

Feb. 3, 2026

An email you may have received claiming you have been selected as a winner in PBGC’s annual lottery promotion is fraudulent. PBGC does not conduct a lottery. If you received this message, do not text or call the phone number or click on the link to Facebook to “proceed with your claim.”

Scammers will make claims about your eligibility for lottery prize money in an attempt to appear legitimate before asking for personal or financial information, such as a Social Security number or bank account number and PINs, passwords or similar confidential access information. They may also ask you to send a check or wire transfer to cover a "processing fee." Do not respond to these scams as the fraudsters will try to obtain your personal information so they can steal your money.

PBGC will never initiate contact with recipients by email or phone to request personal or financial information; this includes any type of electronic communication, such as text messages and social media channels like Facebook. PBGC will not initially contact you by phone or email, but rather through official correspondence sent through the U.S. Mail.

Did you respond to the PBGC Lottery Scam?

If you believe you are or may have been a victim, file a complaint with the PBGC Office of Inspector General Hotline at (800) 303-9737, TTY/TDD (800) 877-8339, oighotline@pbgc.gov, or visit our website at https://oig.pbgc.gov/hotline.html If you have been targeted by this scam, you may also contact the Federal Trade Commission and use their FTC Complaint Assistant at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/assistant. Please add "PBGC Lottery Scam" to the comments of your complaint.

See original notice from the PBGC Office of Inspector General here.

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