A Prize That Requires a Fee Is Asking for Your Money
FTC says a demand to pay fees to collect a sweepstakes prize is a scam. Do not pay or disclose financial information; use appropriate official reporting if needed.
Judge the demand in front of you
A message announces a large prize and asks for a modest payment to release it. The contrast is designed to make the fee look small beside the promised reward. Put the imagined winnings aside and examine the actual request. The person contacting you wants household money now. No prize has been established merely because a document contains a familiar logo, congratulates you or provides a supposed claim number.
Do not invite children to plan how the family will spend the announced money. Keep them outside the transaction and let the responsible adult handle the request without turning an unverified promise into household news.
Recognize the advance-fee prize mechanism
FTC says that if someone demands payment to obtain a sweepstakes or lottery prize, it is a scam. Its examples include supposed taxes, shipping, handling, processing and customs charges. The label attached to the fee does not change the mechanism. Do not send money or financial account information to the person making that demand.
This guidance concerns the demand from the purported prize contact. It is not tax advice about an actual legitimate award. A real tax question belongs with the appropriate official information and qualified help. Do not let that separate possibility become an excuse to pay a stranger who says the prize will disappear unless a fee arrives immediately.
Stop the exchange instead of negotiating the fee
The practical action is to leave the demand unpaid. You do not need to negotiate a smaller charge, send a small test payment or prove your confidence by continuing the conversation. Do not click a claim link or supply credentials while trying to investigate. Preserve the message privately if you need it for an official report, keeping children and other household adults from treating it as an instruction.
In a hypothetical example, an adult receives another demand after refusing the first payment request. The adult records that the request escalated and stops responding. Nothing in that exchange establishes winnings, a debt to the sender or a duty to recover a prize that has never been verified.
Respond to the actual exposure
If money or information was already sent, tell the relevant payment provider promptly through its official process and use the applicable FTC response guidance. The next action depends on what actually happened. Retain dates and transaction records privately; do not promise the family that reporting guarantees money back. Avoid another caller who offers a paid shortcut to a refund.
Our Christian editorial judgment is that hope does not excuse handing over the facts. Someone deceived by a convincing promise needs practical help, not humiliation. Record the exposure honestly and prevent the next payment while the appropriate response proceeds. The worksheet's finish is a stopped demand, a clear account of any actual loss or disclosure and the official action taken. Announced prizes remain unverified, even when the household would deeply welcome the money.
Prize Demand and Exposure Record
- Identify the received claim and actual requested payment.
- Recognize the fee demand using FTC guidance.
- Leave the demand unpaid and preserve necessary evidence privately.
- Record any actual exposure and use appropriate official response routes.
Prize Demand and Exposure Record
Keep the promised reward separate from the real payment request
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See a worked example
Hypothetical example: An adult refuses a purported shipping fee for an announced prize and records the actual request without claiming winnings.
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