RICHMOND, Va. (October 17, 2024) – The Virginia Lottery is partnering with the National Cybersecurity Alliance to spotlight Cybersecurity Awareness Month. For Lottery players, the Virginia Lottery’s customers, that means keeping abreast of threats, scams and security threats.
As part of the effort, the Lottery is reminding its online players to protect their accounts with strong, difficult-to-guess passwords, to change those passwords often, to use multi-factor authentication (MFA) whenever possible, and to keep their devices and browsers updated.
“While many people think of the Lottery as just fun and games, there’s more to it than that. The Virginia Lottery is constantly vigilant, particularly as new and increased threats to cybersecurity emerge almost daily,” said Virginia Lottery Executive Director Khalid Jones. “The Lottery works hard to make sure every game, every ticket, every play is secure and fair to all players.”
There are also steps players can take to protect themselves. The Virginia Lottery has a Protect Your Play page on its website with important tips for lottery players. That includes a list of “red flags” on how to avoid fake lottery scams, such as:
Someone says you won a prize in a Lottery game you’ve never played.
You receive a phone call that looks like it is coming from another country.
You receive communication with misspellings or poor grammar.
Someone says you need to keep your alleged win confidential.
You are asked to pay a fee to collect alleged winnings.
You get an offer to wire alleged winnings directly into your bank account.
You are told that you can verify alleged winnings by calling a certain phone number.
In addition, you should also be suspicious of any communication that asks you to give out your personal information. Just because someone tells you you’ve won a large lottery prize doesn’t mean that’s true.
About the Virginia Lottery
All Virginia Lottery profits go to K-12 education in Virginia. In Fiscal Year 2024, the Lottery raised more than $934 million for K-12 education, making up approximately 10 percent of Virginia’s total K-12 school budget.
For a complete list of Lottery funds distributed to Virginia school districts, visit the Virginia Lottery’s Giving Back page. For general information or to play games online, visit the Virginia Lottery’s website or download the Lottery’s app. Connect with the Lottery on Facebook, X, Instagram, or YouTube.
With all gaming, please play responsibly.