Lottery Scams: can you game these games of chance?

First up, a big thanks to Brett for inviting me to be part of this blogging project. When Brett first asked me I was like “Really? You and Jon are both Wall Street types. I’m just some schlub who does a podcast with a $5 microphone. What can I do?” Brett is under the impression I have a good eye for scams and suggested I write about such. Hey, I can do that. Intelligent people not only fall for woo and bad financial advice but they also fall for many, many get-rich-quick schemes. Think how many of those Nigerian bank scam emails you get a week or even a day. What’s surprising is how many intelligent people fall for it. I mean, if you were getting two or three similar sounding emails a day or a week, why would you think “sure those other guys are scammers but this guy, Prince Stelco, is the real deal.”

Anyway, my inaugural post isn’t about Nigerian bank scammers but about the most common “something for (nearly) nothing” offer we encounter every day. The lottery.