Although you may still be in the giving spirit this holiday season, don’t give your credit card information too easily and be on the look out for phone scams. Fatima Khawaja with STARS says they have been receiving complaints from people that say they have received calls. They come from a private number claiming to be from STARS.
“You will never be asked to send money to claim a STARS lottery prize. If you are being asked to send a cheque, money order or payment of any kind, it will be a scam.”
She adds that they will never make phone calls to raise funds for the organization either. It is recommended that the fraudulent calls be reported to local RCMP and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501. Kwawaja says they usually do see an increase in the fraud calls when the Saskatchewan and Alberta lottery sales begin.
Anyone who has bought a ticket in the past was able to begin buying their tickets for the Alberta STARS Lottery 2017 on December 12th. The tickets will be up for sale to the general public on January 12th, 2017 with the draw in April.
The lottery includes 3,145 prizes valued at more than $4.9 million. You can learn more about the lottery on the STARS website.