Advance-Fee Scams via Skrill
How inheritance and prize fraudsters targeting European and Middle Eastern Skrill users collect sequential fees for a payout that never arrives.
Part of: Advance Fee Scams
Last reviewed: 1 June 2026
Advance-fee fraud targeting Skrill users is tailored to the platform's user base: online gamers, sports bettors, and international freelancers across Europe and the Middle East who already maintain Skrill wallets and are accustomed to making and receiving cross-border digital payments. Fraudsters construct narratives around unclaimed gaming winnings, international prize draws, or dormant estates that require a series of Skrill payments to 'release'.
Because Skrill users associate the platform with real monetary flows, the payment request feels less suspicious than it might on a less familiar service.
How this scam works on Skrill
A victim receives an email, forum message, or social media notification claiming they are the unclaimed beneficiary of a gaming jackpot, a deceased estate, or an international prize fund. A Skrill payment — typically modest — is required to cover the release fee, an international compliance charge, or a security bond. The contact provides a Skrill email address and references the recipient's established account as evidence that Skrill is the appropriate channel.
After each payment, a new release condition appears. Some operations stretch across weeks, with the promise amount growing at each stage to justify the escalating fees. The promised payment never materialises.
Common red flags
- Unsolicited notification of unclaimed winnings, inheritance, or prize via email or social media
- Skrill payment required before the larger sum can be transferred
- Contact knows you have a Skrill account and uses this to normalise the payment request
- Each Skrill payment resolves one administrative barrier and immediately creates another
- Documentation is provided on official-looking letterhead from a free-domain email address
- Instruction to keep the arrangement confidential until collection is complete
How to protect yourself
- No legitimate prize, inheritance, or gaming payout requires advance Skrill payments
- Verify any prize or inheritance claim through the stated organisation's official contact channels, not the contact information in the notification
- Stop all Skrill payments immediately if you have already paid — additional fees will not unlock any real funds
- Report the Skrill email address used to collect fees to Skrill's fraud team
- Consult a solicitor independently before acting on any inheritance claim, however official it appears
How to report it
- Report to Skrill's fraud team at skrill.com/en/siteinformation/contact with all Skrill email addresses and transaction IDs
- File with Action Fraud (UK) at actionfraud.police.uk or your national fraud authority with full correspondence
- Report the originating email to your national cybercrime reporting centre
Frequently asked questions
Are there any legitimate gaming or lottery jackpots paid via Skrill?
Yes — licensed online gaming platforms do pay winnings via Skrill. The difference is that payments come directly from your account balance on the verified platform you hold; you are never contacted out of the blue and asked to pay fees in advance. If you believe you have a genuine balance on a licensed platform, access it through the platform's official website using your credentials — never through an email or message instruction.