Verify an unexpected prize message independently, preserve the details and find the right reporting or recovery route if you sent money or information.
If a message says you won and must pay a fee, buy gift cards or reveal a verification code to collect, stop before responding. Open the operator’s official site independently and ask whether it issued that notification. A familiar sender name or logo can be copied. FTC prize-scam guidance
What to keep
Save the message, sender address or number, payment instructions and dates. Avoid opening attachments to collect evidence. If it claims to relate to an account request, compare the reference with the one already in your account history. Report the impersonation to the operator using its established support channel and report the fraud to the FTC.
If you already responded
Contact the card issuer, bank, gift-card company or transfer service immediately using official contact details. Explain that the payment resulted from a scam and ask whether it can be stopped or reversed. Keep the transaction reference. If you shared a password, secure the affected account and change that password anywhere else you used it. The FTC provides separate steps for payments, personal information and device access. FTC recovery steps by payment method
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