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Scam artists have spoofed the Web site of the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission in an attempt to steal personal and financial information from lottery players across the country.

The fake lottery Web site, www.mass-lottery.org, which was hosted by Clifton, New York-based HostRocket.com, was taken down by Wednesday afternoon. But the site, which was registered on June 13, was nearly identical to the Massachusetts Lottery Commission's official site, www.masslottery.com, according to lottery spokesperson Amy Morris.

Lured by E-Mail

Morris says the spoofed site operators, believed to be in Nigeria, sent e-mail as well as text messages via cell phones to people telling them they had won $30,000 in the Massachusetts State Lottery.

Once consumers followed a link contained in the e-mail or text message, they were taken to an official-looking Web site. There they were instructed to key in a user name and password, provided to them in the e-mail, and asked to supply personal information, including a credit card number and a Social Security number, Morris says.

They were also asked to pay a $100 processing fee, she says.

According to Morris, about 200 people have notified the Lottery Commission about these e-mail messages since May, and some had given out their personal data. She says the Lottery Commission has no way of knowing how many other people may have fallen victim to the scam.

"In May there was another [spoof] Web site set up at www.mass-lotto.org, which has since been taken down," Morris says. "But we don't know how many others there might be."

Skeptical 'Winner'

Troy Irick, director of community relations at Huntington College in Huntington, Indiana, contacted lottery officials a couple weeks ago to alert them to the scam. Irick says he received an e-mail that read "from administrator," and when he opened it he was told he had won $30,000.

"I don't live anywhere near Massachusetts, and I don't play the lottery," he says. "But I was intrigued because when I clicked on the link I was taken to a Web site that looked almost identical to the Massachusetts State Lottery Web site."

Irick says red flags went up when he was asked for his personal information and asked to pay a processing fee in order to collect his winnings.

"They led you to believe you were selected in a charity-type game, and 10 percent of your winnings would go to charity," Irick says. "It smelled bad, so I did a Google search for the Massachusetts Web site and saw that they had a warning about these [scams] on their site, so I forwarded them the e-mail."

Morris says the Lottery Commission is working with the FBI to track down the perpetrators.

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