Foreign Lottery Scams in Zambia
How fake foreign lottery notifications target Zambians with prize claims conditional on paying upfront fees.
Part of: Foreign Lottery Scams
Last reviewed: 1 June 2026
Foreign lottery scams reach Zambians via email, SMS, and WhatsApp, claiming they have won prizes in UK, European, or US lottery draws they never entered. The prize is always contingent on fees described as tax, legal processing, or courier charges. No prize exists; the fees are the scam.
Zambia's English-speaking, mobile-connected population makes it accessible to English-language lottery fraud. The amounts demanded are often calibrated to be significant but not implausibly large, increasing the likelihood of payment.
How this scam works on Zambia
A Zambian receives a message congratulating them on a lottery win. A contact person and fee payment details are provided. After paying, a new fee is introduced. The cycle continues until the victim stops paying. Some scammers create professional-looking prize certificate PDFs to deepen the deception.
Common red flags
- Prize from a lottery never entered
- Fee required before prize can be collected
- Contact details do not match the official lottery organisation's published information
- Urgency — prize expires unless fees paid immediately
- Request for personal ID or bank details to 'process' the claim
How to protect yourself
- You cannot win a lottery you did not enter — discard all such messages
- Legitimate lotteries deduct taxes from winnings rather than charging separate upfront fees
- Verify independently using the official website of the named lottery
- Do not provide personal details or payment in response to an unsolicited prize notification
How to report it
- Report to the Zambia Police Service with all messages and sender details
- Alert the named lottery organisation to the impersonation
- Report to your mobile carrier if the message arrived by SMS
Frequently asked questions
What should I do if I have already paid a lottery fee in Zambia?
Stop all payments immediately. Contact your mobile-money provider to report the transaction. File a police report with the Zambia Police Service Financial Crimes Unit. Do not engage with any 'recovery service' that contacts you after — these are secondary scams targeting people who have already been defrauded.