The FTC's Consumer Sentinel Network recorded 97,350 reports in its Prizes, Sweepstakes and Lotteries category during 2024.
FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024, published March 2025 ↗U.S. consumer protection reference
Sweepstakes scam
statistics.
Clear, citable figures about prize, sweepstakes, and lottery scam reports, with the source and date beside every number.
At a glance
Reported harm is not the same as a legitimate promotion.
This page tracks consumer reports about scams, not the odds, quality, or availability of legitimate sweepstakes. It is here to make the safety context easy to verify before a reader shares it, cites it, or decides what deserves a closer look.
Consumer reports are valuable signals, but they are not a survey of every U.S. adult and cannot measure every incident. The FTC describes its Consumer Sentinel data as unverified reports, so the figures below are presented as reported counts and losses, not as a count of all scams or all people affected.
Citable figures
Six facts with their source in view.
Across all fraud reports in 2024, 38% of people who reported fraud said they lost money. The FTC reported 6.5 million consumer reports overall that year.
FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024, published March 2025 ↗Consumers reported more than $12.5 billion lost to fraud overall in 2024. This is a broad fraud total, not a total for sweepstakes or prize scams alone.
FTC news release on 2024 fraud data, March 2025 ↗Adults age 60 and over reported $143 million in losses from prize, sweepstakes, and lottery scams in 2025. This figure covers reports that included age and loss information, so it is not an estimate of all harm.
FTC Protecting Older Consumers 2025-2026, published October 2026 ↗The FTC counted 5,280 prize, sweepstakes, and lottery scam loss reports from adults age 60 and over in 2025.
FTC Protecting Older Consumers 2025-2026, published October 2026 ↗In 2024, older adults were 172% more likely than adults ages 18 to 59 to report losing money to prize, sweepstakes, and lottery scams, when the FTC compared loss reports per million people.
FTC Protecting Older Consumers 2024-2025, published December 2025 ↗How to read the numbers
Keep the scope beside the statistic.
Report counts
A report records what someone told a consumer-protection agency. It does not independently verify every claim, and it should not be read as a count of every scam attempt.
Reported losses
Loss totals reflect the reports that included a loss amount. They are useful for understanding reported harm, but they do not measure all losses in the population.
Age-specific findings
Older-adult figures apply only to reports with age information. They are important context, but they should not be presented as a result for every adult.
Methodology and sources
Built for clear attribution.
SweepStash selected public, primary-source FTC publications that specifically report on consumer fraud, prize, sweepstakes, or lottery scams. Each stat keeps its source, publication date, and scope close by so the wording does not travel farther than the evidence.
The page is reviewed roughly monthly, or sooner when the FTC releases a relevant update. Source links were checked on November 3, 2026.
Keep the source close
Read the official details first.
Use the statistics as context, then return to the sponsor’s official rules before you decide what belongs in your routine.
Open provider reading ›