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List of Legitimate, Legal
Lotteries
This is, by far, the most complete list of legal lottery names
available. This is a global list of legitimate lotteries, covering the
United States (and state lotteries), the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand,
and many other countries. While there may be a legitimate lottery out there that
we haven't yet heard of (or validated), it is a safe bet that if the lottery
isn't on this list, it is very likely a scam.
Remember these tips for avoiding scam lotteries:
-
You cannot win a legitimate lottery if you have not entered
it.
-
In almost all cases you must purchase a ticket to enter a
legal lottery.
-
You never have to pay to collect winnings from a legitimate
lottery. You pay taxes AFTER you you receive the winnings. Other fees
would be simply deducted from the winnings.
-
If you hold a real, legal winning lottery ticket, you must notify the lottery
-
None of these lotteries will contact you to say you won; not
by phone, fax, mail or email.
-
It is illegal under U.S. federal law to play ANY foreign lottery
from the United States.
-
Since scammers simply invent new names for their fake
lottery scams, it is more accurate to say that if you do not see the lottery
on this list, it is probably a scam.
-
Finally, even if you do see the name on this list, look at
number 6 - any email FROM one of these lotteries, must be a scam.
If you operate (or know of) a legitimate, legal lottery that we do not
have on this list, use this form to
tell us about it. Before we add it to the list, we will independently
confirm the information with the governing agency in their country.
List of real, legal, legitimate Lotteries
Generally, these are national or state/province lotteries.
-
NOTICE: The
United States Federal Government only
operates the Visa "lottery" listed below, which provides visas,
not money or winnings. There is NO Green Card
lottery nor any other type of lottery.
-
It is illegal for US residents to play foreign lotteries from
the United states
-
Mega Millions
- Mega Millions (formerly The Big Game) is a multi-state USD$1 lottery
game in the United States. Twelve U.S. states currently license Mega
Millions as the monopoly provider of multi-state lotteries. As of 2006, Mega
Millions features jackpots of at least $12 million, payable in 26 annual
payments or a reduced lump sum cash payout.
-
Lotto South
- Lotto South was a multi-state lottery game in Georgia, Kentucky, and
Virginia. It resulted form the merger of the three states' main games –
Lotto Georgia, Lotto Kentucky, and Lotto Virginia – into one in September
2001. In January 2006, it was announced that Lotto South would be retired
and replaced by a new game called Win For Life[1]. Lotto South's final
drawing took place on February 25.
-
Powerball
- Powerball is an American lottery operated by the Multi-State Lottery
Association (MUSL), a consortium of lottery commissions in 29 states, the
District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball is licensed as
the monopoly provider of multistate lotteries in these jurisdictions.
-
Tri-State Lottery - The Tri-State Lottery was the first
multi-jurisdictional lottery formed in the United States. The participating
states are Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Games offered by the Tri-State
Lottery include Tri-State Megabucks, Tri-State Pick 3 and Pick 4, and Tri-State
Triple Play.
Notice that not all states currently have lotteries. Those that do have a
lottery always have their own website. Click on the blue, underlined name
of the state to see their lottery's website.
-
You cannot
purchase a ticket to a State Lottery on the Internet. You are
never notified if you win. You
must check your ticket against winning numbers.
-
The individual
American States listed below operate lotteries that require the
purchase of a ticket at either a
store or a ticket machine in that state.
-
ALL LOTTERIES
must be licensed and registered with their respective Gaming or
Lottery Commission
in their State!
Argentina
Quiniela, Loto and various others.
Austria
- Lotto 6 aus 45, "Euro Millions" and Zahlenlotto
Lotteries in Australia include various lotto related products licensed by
Australian lottery companies, comprising mainly of state government-owned
corporations - New South Wales Lotteries, Golden Casket, South Australian
Lotteries and Lotterywest - plus one private-sector company, Tattersalls,
which operates in the states not covered by the state-owned operators.
Although the organisations are predominantly state-based, Australia has a
number of national lottery games. These games are typically administered by
one of the above companies, and syndicated through the Australian Lotto
Bloc.
- Western Australia -
LotteryWest - It
has come to our attention that unauthorised overseas operators are
communicating by mail and email to people throughout the world purporting to
be Lotterywest or to represent Lotterywest. These communications advise that
the recipient has won a large prize and request that further details be sent
to Lotterywest (or the sender) in order that the prize can be claimed. They
then eventually ask the recipient to pay a fee (sometimes described as a
handling fee) for the prize to be paid. Please note that unless you have
purchased a Lotterywest ticket in Western Australia and are one of our
registered players, the correspondence you have received is a SCAM. If you
wish to check please email us on
contact@lotterywest.wa.gov.au
or phone us on + 618 9340 5100
- New South
Wales
- Queensland
- Golden Casket is
the authorised lottery
- South Australia -
-
Victoria - The Victorian public lotteries licence is currently held
by Tattersall's Limited (615 St
Kilda Road, Melbourne VIC 3000). The licence was transferred from the
Trustees of the Will and Estate of the late George Adams on 31 May 2005. The
appointed subsidiary is Tattersall's Sweeps Pty Ltd (615 St Kilda Road,
Melbourne VIC 3000).
Click here for more information about scams about Tattersall's.
The Barbados lottery is the national lottery in the country of Barbados.
It is owned by the Barbados Olympic Association. The games the company have
are:
* Lotto,
* Double Draw,
* Nuffcash,
* Sscratch,
* PowerPlay and
* Bingo.
The results are aired nightly on the television and printed in the daily
newspapers of Barbados. For each game you must buy a a ticket. When
the results are shown after the draw everyone must check their ticket to see
if their ticket matches the results. The person holding that matching ticket
wins.
Belgium
- Loterie Nationale or Nationale Loterij and "Euro Millions"
Brazil
Mega-Sena and various others
Bulgaria
There are legitimate lotteries in Canada, but they work similarly to
lotteries in the United States: individual provinces sell their own
tickets:
Croatia
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Europe
Finland
France
Germany
- National lottery: Lotto 6 aus 49 and Spiel 77 and Super
6
- Provincial lotteries:
Greece
- National lottery: Lotto 6/49 , Joker 5/45 + 1/20 and
various others
Hong Kong
Hungary
India
-
An Post National Lottery Company
- An Post National Lottery Company (Irish Comhlacht Chrannchur Náisiúnta An
Post) is the company which has the licence of "the National Lottery" (Irish:
"an Crannchur Náisiúnta") of the Republic of Ireland. The company was
founded by its parent company An Post under a licence issued by the Minister
for Finance under the National Lottery Act, 1986. The running of the lottery
games, is handled by a contractor, GTECH Ireland, a wholly owned subsidiary
of GTECH Corp, listed on New York Stock Exchange as GTK.
Israel
- National lottery: "Lotto"
Italy
- National lottery: Lotto, Superenalotto
Japan
Latvia
- National lottery: Latloto 5/35, SuperBingo, Keno.
Visit:
[2]
Luxembourg
Malaysia
- National lottery: Sports Toto,
Magnum and Magnum 4D, Pan Malaysian
Pools (da ma chai)
Malta
- National lottery:
Super 5 (Every Wednesday),
Lotto (Lottu in Maltese) (Every Saturday)
Mexico
Netherlands
Norway
Philippines
- National lottery: Lotto 6/42, Mega Lotto 6/45, Super Lotto 6/49, 6
Digits Luzon, 4 Digits, Suertres Lotto, EZ2 Lotto
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Romania
Russia
- National lottery: Sportloto
Serbia
Singapore
- National lottery: TOTO, 4D
Slovakia
Slovenia
- National lottery: Loterija Slovenije
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
- El Gordo de la Primitiva
- El Gordo de Navidad.
The Spanish Ministry of the Treasury has advised us that legitimate
lottery tickets can only be purchased from authorized ticket sellers in
Spain. Let us repeat that: The El Gordo lotteries are only open to
Spanish residents - you CANNOT win if you are not IN Spain.
The official agency that oversees lotteries in Spain (see
this link for a warning about scams in Spanish: Loterias y Apuestas
del Estado) has information on this fraud on its
website. Click on the link on the left
hand side called "Otros Avisos" for the warning about these lotteries and
information on how to contact this agency. The information is available in
Spanish and English.
- National lottery: Loterías y Apuestas del Estado
- "Euro Millions"
Switzerland
Both of these names, Swiss Lotto and Euromillions are used in many scams.
- National lottery: Swiss Lotto
- "Euro Millions"
Taiwan
Turkey
- National lottery: Various games by Milli Piyango İdaresi (National
Lottery Administration) including Loto 6/49 and jackpots
These are the only legal lotteries in Britain:
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