Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s office and Kansas Lottery officials Wednesday warned Kansans about foreign lottery scams in the state.

Schmidt said state officials received in recent days an increasing number of complaints about foreign lotteries, but the attorney general said those solicitations are scams.

“Consumers should never believe phone calls or emails saying they have won a foreign lottery,” Schmidt said Wednesday in a consumer alert. “These are scams and violations of Kansas law.”

According to Schmidt’s office, scam artists in a call or email will notify someone that they have won a large sum in a foreign lottery or drawing in another country. The scam artist will then ask for the “winner” to send a small amount of money to pay taxes or process the award. But likely the scam artists are soliciting bank account information to try to make unauthorized withdrawals.

“The Kansas Lottery is the only legally operating lottery in the state,” said Dennis Wilson, executive director of the Kansas Lottery. “One of the easiest ways to detect a scam is knowing that lottery officials will never ask you for money up-front to collect a prize and will never ask for banking information over the phone.”

Officials are asking anyone who believes he or she is a victim of the lottery scam to contact the attorney general’s consumer protection division at 1-800-432-2310 or ksag.org.