Frequent lottery wins by retailers investigated

Comment #41

mylollipop — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 04:51:52 GMT

I have Definitelyheard clerks tell their favorite customers which roll is a winning roll and which one is not. And they have their friends sitting around in the store scratching away. Once, when this particular clerk was in, I watched and listened as I ate my sandwich. Then I got in line and the next two tcikets I bought were nice winners! It is all a racket, I think. If I overhear how to get the big jackpot, I will be all ears and play...that will be a shared jackpot! LOL

Comment #40

Rogue46 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:18:53 GMT

But you could see more ......if same info were to be given to each player? yes

Comment #39

Rogue46 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 03:25:36 GMT

Dont you see? A Lottery Clerk of average intelligence , watching people buy scratch-Off tickets..lose..win...whatever, they have an advantage over the joe who walks in from the street.

Contests usually have explicit rules, for a reason. People involved are not allowed to participate. It would not be accepted any where else, why now? Because the Government has a piece of the pie. Only way it could happen. Sorry, that's the truth. Honestly I should've become a Lottery Clerk.....Cuz I'd BE RICh... [ More ]

Comment #38

Rogue46 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:59:28 GMT

Even of average intelligence, the Lottery Retail Clerk has an advantage. Private information that is not provided for consumers provides enough information to Lottery Clerks to figure out best odds on winning scratch-off tickets whilst they are working.....8 hours or more. I happen to believe that if I spent that much time studying the factors...I could win too.

Comment #37

MoneyMoney — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:48:51 GMT

yea def.. but its RANDOM though because most people that play scrach off tickets they can see it on the ticket if they are winners or not OF COURSE. for example I myself. i play scrach off ticket i scrach it off its very simpel the KEY is you must know how to play the scrach off game. if i see i match someting on the ticket than i cash it in. i dont just give to retailer, i check if i am winner or not people are being fooled because most of them DOESNT know how to PLAY the scrach off ticket and

Comment #36

Rogue46 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:54:41 GMT

Lottery retailers are given a lottery post of all remaining prizes on each scratch-off every month (the actual number) I know because I saw it after inquiring about Funky Five a scratch-off that is suppose to be open until June of 2010 in New York, yet no one in my area seems to be selling it. (Nor did I read of anyone winning the top prize of 555,555). The clerk whipped out a 3 page booklet and checked because he claimed it was discontinued..I said no, the website claims otherwise. I was of cou... [ More ]

Comment #35

Jenemay — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:27:25 GMT

This the secret , most time the retailers buy the tickets from the winners because the winners do not want to pay taxes directly on a win. The retailer buy the ticket less the value minus tax. People do this to hide their identity or get their winning faster thru the retailer cash it as his.

Comment #34

sunjune6 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:49:31 GMT

It is obvious what they are doing. I win; they buy my ticket and make a profit. I on the other hand, for tax purposes, I have no income from lottery wins. The money I got for selling my ticket do not get reported as income. That's the way it is. . At the races in any track, you can find people that will claim your prize for you. They tell you what they will expect up front. I win $2000; they will claim the prize for $400 - $500. I pocket $1500 - $1600 unreported income. That's the way it is.... [ More ]

Comment #33

jfindley1 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:11:06 GMT

I honestly think there scanning all the tickets they recieve and they pick out all the winners. I've seen someone working at a gas station do that before.

Comment #32

Texas Joey — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:29:19 GMT

If you believe that bull, I have a nice waterfront property I would love to sell you in Florida!!

Those people 98% were not born American. There is no way they could win 65 times in less than three month!!! I hope the lottery Commision takes note and puts in Video footage showing how they win!! I think they must be cashing in other winners tickets!!!

That really upsets me with I play 5 days a week and only win back $2.00 or $3.00!! As Ricky use to say something smell rotten in Denmark

Comment #31

taxijohn — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:08:26 GMT

They pay 2 to 1 on most tickets to illegal aliens, people on welfare, workers comp. Etc. They also do the old, nope, not a winner scam by keeping the ticket, or like some else said, tearing it up and then tapping it up and cashing it later on.

A dollar store owner in Tarrytown NY has vanished just last week, store is empty, ransacked. It is alleged that he pulled off some kind of lottery scam.

These guys are creeps, regardless of what awards they have.

Comment #30

taxijohn — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:57:19 GMT

A few days ago, a Dollar store owner in Tarrytown NY took off having something to do with Lottery fraud. he just vanished, store is in shambles.

These retailers cash lottery tickets for persons who can't report income such as people on welfare, workers comp., people who are illegal aliens, owe child support etc. etc.

That's why the one guy on the video couldn't remember buying the $5K lottery ticket at th mall, becasue he didn't buy it. He probably gave $2,500.00 for the $5K tick... [ More ]

Comment #29

Stack47 — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:27:57 GMT

It looks like those retailers are buying winning tickets from players who don't want it known they won or for some other reason. I'm assuming because they told Chris Hanson they were very lucky , the retailers didn't want anyone to know they profited and by how much. I see nothing illegal because the taxes are being paid and the state lottery should already know they are cashing an extraordinary amount of winning tickets; they gave Hanson the printouts.

I'm thinking that 1/3

About the sa... [ More ]

Comment #28

vexpose — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:58:43 GMT

very true....

moral of story is to always check your ticketyourself

Comment #27

dopey7719 — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:44:39 GMT

The same thing happens here in South Carolina. The same clerks seem to cash in winning scratch-offs all the time. They have a system going...for instance, more than a few have told me that winners come in a roll. You have a roll of non-winners and a roll of winners. If you buy 2 or 3 winning tickets in one roll...than that roll is a winner and they will encourage you to buy from it (if they like you). My mother was told by one clerk NOT to buy from that roll because it was a loser....my mom didn... [ More ]

Comment #26

dopey7719 — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:28:17 GMT

These Lucky winners should tell this to the convicted embezzler in Kansas...he played a lot as well and I'll bet his odds were NOT as good as theirs

Comment #25

four4me — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:22:46 GMT

So like there couldn't be a business that cashes tickets on a regular basis even to the point that the word has spread out from the surrounding communities and now the guy has people walking in several times a week to get tickets cashed. Even legitimate tickets are reported as well as anybody that might wander in wanting to split there winnings.

Cut some people some slack we had a store near me that did it they got caught cashing tickets for people who didn't want to pay taxes and now that st... [ More ]

Comment #24

SomedayTheMega — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 05:15:17 GMT

I think a lot of you are missing the lightbulb here. A store cashing in 50+ tickets of large amount prizes has to have a ridiculously lucky to get 50 people to split the ticket with them for whatever reason. They are doing in constantly and similar amounts at regular intervals. There is something seriously sinister going on here than involves a bit more than luck. And the store owner who's wife is winning a tremendous amount of money playing a lot has a lil smth going on too. A lot of folks in t... [ More ]

Comment #23

caipiao — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 18:14:17 GMT

thought scratch offs have best odds, return 60% of jackpot too

Comment #22

four4me — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:39:49 GMT

KY floyd said: Kind of makes you wonder how the lottery would be turning a profit if it was true.

The lottery makes most of it's money selling scratch offs.

Comment #21

KY Floyd — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:20:54 GMT

That was my first thought, but think about this:

If a person had a $5,000.00 ticket and didn't want to do the taxstuff , and agreed to sell their ticket for 50% of it's value, thebuyer has a built in 100% profit.

That's not true in a world where somebody has to do the tax stuff. If you cash a winning ticket for $5000 you've got $5000 in taxable (and reported) income, but your real income was only $2500. If you have no state tax and are in the 25% bracket you'll owe $1250, so oyur profit... [ More ]

Comment #20

Litebets27 — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 13:26:07 GMT

(I know I told this story before)

I was once, standing in line at a store that had one lottery terminal and was being held up by a man who was calling out a long list of 4 digit numbers. The line was long and I had gone to the store while I was on my lunch break from work, as had the majority of the people in the line. People were getting impatient.

When the guy finished and was walking away, someone made a comment out loud about him spending so much money on the lottery. This made the guy... [ More ]

Comment #19

Tenaj — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:38:43 GMT

This is one of the reasons I don't buy scratch-offs.

Comment #18

Phokas — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:09:32 GMT

The video report didn't indicate whether these winning tickets were scratch-offs or terminal print outs or both. It would be hard to scam a terminal game with a independent draw except where they dupe the playing public by telling them they lost on a winning ticket and then keeping it to cash in. I've heard of retailers scanning the bar codes of scratch-off tickets and pulling out the winners and cashing them in then putting the no prize or low value prize tickets back out to be sold to the publ... [ More ]

Comment #17

Littleoldlady — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:52:08 GMT

For everything legal, there is something that can be done illegal . If they are cashing tickets for others, they better not get caught. But also to say this, there are folks who play and when they think that they have the number, they do step on it and try to knock it out the box. I know folks who do play like that. They don't play every single draw like that except when they think their number is close to coming out. It makes sense to me. I am sure that if they had checked in Ky along the TN/Ky... [ More ]

Comment #16

Tenaj — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:23:35 GMT

I wonder how much of a cut they get when they claim tickets for people. 1/2 maybe.

Comment #15

mpat69 — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:55:28 GMT

To me it sounds like Chris is running out of stories to go after. Now he is chasing people that win lotteries. I play quite often. I don't win that much, but some people do. Just because these people play a lot, he is trying to find a story there. Why don't he do a story on BIG winners, what they did withthe money, how family and friends reacted to them as well as how they are treated differently, etc.

Comment #14

caipiao — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:16:30 GMT

there are definitely some that let the retailer check their numbers and retailers tell them not winners, then proceed to tear and throw ticket in basket. They later tape it together and claim the lotto or scratcher at Lotto headquarters

Comment #13

Todd — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:09:18 GMT

Indeed! Retailers collecting for illegal aliens too.

Comment #12

Captain Lotto — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:39:08 GMT

Or retailers paying players under the table so they can avoid back taxes and child support. Either way, it's shady business.

Comment #11

Todd — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:29:18 GMT

I'm not sure you're getting what this is all about.

It's not about how random the lottery is. We all know that nobody is able to win prizes of greater than $5,000 that often -- even daily players.

It's about retailers that are probably involved in schemes in which they check customers' tickets to see if they are winners, inform the customer they have not won, and then take the winning tickets and claim the prize money for themselves.

If you check the Lottery Post news section for Onta... [ More ]

Comment #10

KY Floyd — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:11:12 GMT

I've laways assumed that most of the excessive wins by retailers are because of the number of winning tickets that come through the door. Ocasionally they simply cheat their customers, but I'm sure that it's mostly a matter of buying the winners for a fraction of their value. Those who bought the tickets may have many reasons for selling them at less than face value, but I expct the various reasons all come down to thinking they'll keep more by settling for a smaller payment under the table, or... [ More ]

Comment #9

gsc5 — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:40:46 GMT

First of all, I don't think you can cheat the lottery. Its too random, but I know you can win without spending alot of money.

I've also have spoken to customers that have won $1000. or more, only to go cash it in, and have the money taken for child support, and walk out with nothing.

If you win p/4 or P/3 or maybe even a scracher, there's nothing illegal selling to someone else, for what ever the reasons. The bearer of the ticket is the winner. Maybe you owe child support, no ID, or it w... [ More ]

Comment #8

coolmoney — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:59:34 GMT

Ok, that is true, many people might owe child support, taxes or not be a American citizen and they want the money without having to go through any trouble and the retailer is going to cash their ticket in to make that money. No, it isn't right but the Lottery isn't doing anything to stop it so the retailers are going to continue to do it.

Comment #7

coolmoney — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:56:05 GMT

I am going to agree with you Editgap, even those that play alot, they end up broke, not rich like these retailers and families are doing. I don't know how they are doing it but it isn't legal. And this is regarding the scratch off tickets and not the pick 3 or pick 4.

Comment #6

duckman — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:40:14 GMT

Most of the tickets are 3 and 4 number games. The winning tickets are probably being cashed by these retailers for others who do not have proper ID or know they owe money - no U.S. ID, back taxes, child support, etc. which most states will cross reference with the social security number - and the state will take that out of their winnings. The retailer cashes the customer's ticket and takes a cut of the winnings for their service and to cover taxes due.

As far as I know, in most states, it... [ More ]

Comment #5

JADELottery — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:08:01 GMT

The I / we / he / she plays a lot. is a B.S. statement when it's not supported by proof. Demonstrate this statement to be true by showing documentation that you have played a lot . In many cases they can't because they did not ask the seller for a receipt of the sale, and yes, you can get a receipt for a lottery sale. Or, they don't have all the losing tickets that comes from playing a lot. Another way to tell they are lying is questioning them about where they bought the ticket. As you seen, if... [ More ]

Comment #4

tweak — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:58:08 GMT

they cash tickets at 33%. i know a store that does this with pick 4 winnings. they buy the tickets for the claim form at 33% off.then they give cash on the spot . i didnt really watch the video, i just know thats a tactic

Comment #3

Editgap — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:18:57 GMT

It's like someone telling you that you die to get the reward of your life.

It all luck or we play alot. When did they prove this as a consistant system.

I play a lot too I don't see 1 % of their result.

Comment #2

Todd — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:54:03 GMT

As was the case in Ontario, methinks there may be more to it than simple luck.

Comment #1

Raven62 — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:42:30 GMT

It boils down to: The more You Play, the more You Win...

Frequent lottery wins by retailers investigated

Lottery Post — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:03:30 GMT

Includes video report

In this 2-part video report, MSNBC revealed the findings of their investigation, in which the most frequent lottery winners were almost always retailers.

To view the report, please click on Part 1 of the report below. When Part 1 has finished playing, continue by clicking Part 2 of the report.

Part 1

Part 2