lottery fraud
{{Short description|Claiming a lottery prize by deception or forgery}}
File:Justismuseet. Counterfeit money etc. in Norway. Forged lottery ticket. Forfalsket lodd i Pengelotteriet 1936. Norwegian National Museum of Justice, Trondheim 2019-04-10 DSC03256.jpg, Trondheim]]
Lottery fraud is any act committed to defraud a lottery game. A perpetrator attempts to win a jackpot prize through fraudulent means. The aim is to defraud the organisation running the lottery of money, or in the case of a stolen lottery ticket, to defraud an individual of their legitimately won prize.
Several common techniques are used, including using a forged or altered lottery ticket to claim a prize, or presenting a genuine, stolen ticket to claim a prize through misrepresentation. There are also cases of insider fraud, where employees or agents involved in the lottery have exploited their position to fraudulently claim prizes for themselves, such as tampering with the lottery draw process itself. In many countries, players can present their lottery tickets in person at retail outlets to check for winning numbers at the point of sale; cases have emerged of retailers failing to inform customers of their winnings and then claiming the prizes for themselves.
An alternative form of lottery fraud, commonly known as a lottery scam, takes the form of informing an individual by email, letter or phone call that they have won a lottery prize. The victim is instructed to pay a fee to enable the non-existent winnings to be processed. This type is a form of advance-fee fraud and a common email scam."[http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/phishing/hoaxes.mspx How to identify and avoid hoax or fraudulent e-mail scams]," Microsoft {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080118071004/http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/phishing/hoaxes.mspx |date=January 18, 2008 }}{{cite book |last1=Schiller |first1=Jon |title=Financial Fraud |date=2010 |publisher=CreateSpace |isbn=9781450533430 |page=89 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kJdBULTar8YC&q=Lottery%20scam&pg=PA89 |access-date=1 November 2019 |language=en}}
Noted cases
File:MM00038365x (9274609137).jpg police officers examining fake Cuban lottery tickets (c.1960)]]
A number of high-profile cases have emerged of lottery fraud around the world. A counterfeit ticket scandal was recorded in 1913-1914 which involved fake tickets from the Cuban lottery being sold in Puerto Rico, South Florida and the West Indies.{{cite journal |title=Counterfeit Lottery Tickets |journal=The Cuba Review |date=December 1913 |volume=XII |issue=1 |page=38 |url=https://archive.org/stream/cubarevie12muns/#page/n262/mode/1up |access-date=3 November 2019 |publisher=New York: Munson Steamship Line}} The fraud was perpetrated by Cuban officials inside the lottery. During the 1960s, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar's early petty criminal activities included selling fake lottery tickets.{{cite book|author=J.D. Rockefeller|title=Cocaine King Pablo Escobar: Crimes and Drug Dealings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wo3WCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT3|date=17 March 2016|publisher=J.D. Rockefeller|isbn=978-1-5306-1889-7|pages=3–}} In 1999, a case of draw tampering emerged in Italy when the balls of the national Lotto were treated with varnish or heated. The blindfolded children who drew the winning numbers were then secretly instructed to pick preselected numbers by feeling for treated balls.{{cite web |title=Italian investigators widen probe into rigged lottery drawings |url=http://articles.cnn.com/1999-01-16/world/9901_16_italy.lottery_1_lottery-drawings-numbers-milan?_s=PM:WORLD |publisher=CNN |access-date=2 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017024949/http://articles.cnn.com/1999-01-16/world/9901_16_italy.lottery_1_lottery-drawings-numbers-milan?_s=PM:WORLD |archive-date=17 October 2010 |date=6 January 1999|url-status=dead}}
=Canada=
Between 1999 and 2006, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) was subject to widespread retailer fraud. Authorities noticed that an improbably large number of lottery retailers in Ontario were winning major prizes, from $50,000 to $12.5 million. Evidence emerged that certain retailers were failing to inform customers of their winnings when they presented their lottery tickets in-store, and then fraudulently claiming prizes for themselves.{{cite web |first1=Betsy|last1=Powell |last2=Brazao |first2=Dale |title=Lotto winners discover $5.7M scam {{!}} The Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2007/12/20/lotto_winners_discover_57m_scam.html |access-date=2 November 2019 |work=Toronto Star |date=20 December 2007 |language=en}} An investigation found evidence of widespread insider fraud among lottery retailers, including collusion with employees and family members. Four OLG officials were fined and dismissed.{{cite web |last1=Wile |first1=Rob |title=The Most Famous Lottery Scandals Of All Time |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/lottery-scandals-2012-8?r=US&IR=T |website=Business Insider |access-date=2 November 2019 |date=3 August 2012}}
=United States=
In 1980, Nick Perry, TV host of the Pennsylvania Lottery, was at the centre of the 1980 Pennsylvania Lottery scandal, a fraud that involved creating replicas of the official ping-pong balls used in the Pennsylvania Lottery machines. The specially weighted balls ensured that limited combinations of numbers were likely to be drawn. Perry's accomplices then purchased a large number of tickets around the state corresponding to the predicted draw results, enabling them to claim approximately $1.8 million in prize money. Suspicions were aroused when authorities noticed that a large number of tickets were purchased for the eight possible combinations. On 20 May 1981, Perry was convicted of criminal conspiracy, criminal mischief, theft by deception, rigging a publicly exhibited contest and perjury, and was sentenced to seven years in prison. His accomplices were also tried and convicted.{{cite book |last1=Thornburgh |first1=Dick |title=Where the Evidence Leads: An Autobiography, Revised and Updated |date=2003 |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Pre |isbn=9780822973881 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v8NIIZjo2cAC&q=Nick%20Perry%20lottery&pg=PA160 |access-date=1 November 2019 |language=en}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BI8cAAAAIBAJ&pg=2167%2C4194472 |title=Lottery TV Moved to Harrisburg |last=Cuddy Jr. |first=Jim |newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press |date=June 11, 1981 |access-date=April 14, 2015}} A fictionalized version of the scandal was the basis of the screenplay for the 2000 film Lucky Numbers.
In 2010, in the Hot Lotto fraud scandal, Eddie Raymond Tipton, former information security director of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) (which also controls the Powerball game), rigged a random number generator to defraud the Hot Lotto lottery game of $14.3 million. On 20 July 2015, Tipton was found guilty on two counts of fraud and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment.{{Cite news |url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2017/06/29/tipton-pleads-guilty-iowa-lottery-rigging-scandal/438039001/ |title=Tipton brothers plead guilty in Iowa lottery rigging scandal |last=Rogers |first=Grant |date=June 29, 2017 |work=Des Moines Register |access-date=2017-08-25}}{{Cite news |url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/investigations/2017/08/22/iowa-lottery-cheat-sentenced-25-years/566642001/ |title=Eddie Tipton sentenced in Iowa Lottery rigging case |last=Clayworth |first=Jason |date=August 22, 2017 |work=Des Moines Register |access-date=2017-08-25}} Subsequent criminal investigations revealed that Tipton had also rigged other state lotteries: the Colorado Lottery in 2005 ($568,990 jackpot prize paid to Tipton's brother Tommy); the Wisconsin Lottery in 2007 ($783,257 prize paid to Tipton's accomplice); and the Oklahoma Lottery in 2011 ($1.2 million prize). Tipton was tried again in 2017 and sentenced to 25 years in prison.{{cite news |url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2015/10/09/convicted-hot-lotto-rigger-facing-new-felony-charge/73645772/ |title=Hot Lotto scammer accused of rigging other lotteries |first=Grant |last=Rodgers |date=October 9, 2015 |newspaper=Des Moines Register |access-date=November 21, 2015}}{{cite web |last1=Forgrave |first1=Reid |title=The Man Who Cracked the Lottery |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/03/magazine/money-issue-iowa-lottery-fraud-mystery.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=6 November 2019 |date=3 May 2018}}
=United Kingdom=
In 2009, a couple found a National Lottery ticket on the floor of a supermarket in Swindon. The ticket bore winning numbers and the couple claimed £30,000 in prize money. The woman who bought the ticket had retained her receipt as proof of purchase. The couple who found the ticket were charged with theft and making a false representation, and received an 11-month suspended sentence.{{cite news |last1=Haworth |first1=Jessica |title=What happens when you fake a lottery win? These are the people who tried |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/faking-lottery-win-people-who-7270831 |access-date=1 November 2019 |work=Daily Mirror |date=29 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201063217/https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/faking-lottery-win-people-who-7270831 |archive-date=1 February 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite web |last1=Roberts |first1=Tom |title=Couple who found winning lottery ticket ordered to pay back prize money |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/jul/24/couple-repay-lottery-prize |website=The Guardian |access-date=1 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101160528/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/jul/24/couple-repay-lottery-prize |archive-date=1 November 2019 |date=24 July 2009 |url-status=live}}
Several cases of insider fraud by retailers have been uncovered by investigators. In 2011, a shopkeeper in Watton, Norfolk retained a winning lottery ticket and later claimed the £156,000 prize herself. She and her husband were later jailed for 14 months.{{cite web |title=Newsagent stole winning £156,000 lottery ticket from pensioner |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9154969/Newsagent-stole-winning-156000-lottery-ticket-from-pensioner.html |access-date=1 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730173626/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9154969/Newsagent-stole-winning-156000-lottery-ticket-from-pensioner.html |archive-date=30 July 2017 |date=20 March 2012 |url-status=live}} In 2012, an Oldham newsagent falsely told a woman that her lottery ticket had won nothing and then claimed the £1 million prize for himself. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison. In Gravesend, another newsagent falsely claimed an £80,000 with a lottery ticket purchased by a customer, and was given a non-custodial sentence.{{cite web |title=Lottery Cheat Imran Pervais Escapes Jail Term |url=https://news.sky.com/story/lottery-cheat-imran-pervais-escapes-jail-term-10446495 |website=Sky News |access-date=1 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101160708/https://news.sky.com/story/lottery-cheat-imran-pervais-escapes-jail-term-10446495 |archive-date=1 November 2019 |language=en|url-status=live}}
In 2009 an employee of Camelot — the company that operates the UK National Lottery — conspired with a member of the public, Edward Putman, of Kings Langley in Hertfordshire, to claim a jackpot prize using a bogus ticket. The employee, who worked in Camelot's fraud department, found a way to forge lottery tickets bearing winning numbers. Putman was initially prosecuted in July 2012 for benefit fraud after failing to declare lottery winnings of nearly £5 million whilst in receipt of welfare benefits.{{cite news |last1=Cockerell |first1=Jennifer |title=Lottery winner rapist Edward Putman admits fraud |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/lottery-winner-rapist-edward-putman-admits-fraud-7906111.html |access-date=23 October 2019 |work=The Independent |date=3 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023235215/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/lottery-winner-rapist-edward-putman-admits-fraud-7906111.html |archive-date=23 October 2019 |language=en|url-status=dead}} Although police did not have enough evidence to bring a prosecution at the time, the case was investigated by the Gambling Commission in December 2016, who found that Camelot had breached the terms of its operating licence in failing to investigate the veracity of the prize claim before paying out and fined Camelot £3 million.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38337470|title=National Lottery firm Camelot fined for £2.5m suspect ticket win|last1=Marston|first1=Rebecca|date=16 December 2016|work=BBC News|access-date=1 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161217012817/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38337470|archive-date=17 December 2016|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}} The case was subsequently investigated further and in October 2019 Putman was jailed for 9 years for defrauding the National Lottery of £2.5 million.{{cite news |title=Conman jailed for £2.5m fake lottery ticket fraud |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-49932832 |access-date=23 October 2019 |work=BBC News |date=4 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023235731/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-49932832 |archive-date=23 October 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite news |title=Man convicted over £2.5m National Lottery fake ticket fraud |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/oct/04/edward-putnam-fake-national-lottery-ticket |access-date=24 October 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=4 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191005020138/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/oct/04/edward-putnam-fake-national-lottery-ticket |archive-date=5 October 2019|url-status=live}}
=China=
In the 2004 Chinese lottery scandal, a contractor at the Shaanxi Provincial Sports Lottery Centre in Shaanxi Province attempted to claim a prize of a new BMW car using a fake lottery ticket.{{cite news | url = http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-06/30/content_344106.htm | title = Lottery winner sold BMW, goes bush |newspaper = Shenzhen Daily | date = 30 June 2004 }}
In 2005, a lotto retailer in Anshan, Liaoning Province exploited a flaw in a lottery draw process that allowed him to continue to sell lottery tickets up to five minutes after the winning numbers had been announced. He bought a ticket with winning numbers and claimed a prize of $3.76 million, but eventually he was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment.{{cite news |title=Man gets life for lottery ticket scam |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lottery/man-gets-life-for-lottery-ticket-scam-idUSN0635211520071106 |access-date=2 November 2019 |work=Reuters |date=6 November 2007 |language=en}}
= Vietnam =
In Vietnam, lottery fraud has occurred on many different scales, from small to large, causing great damage to the state and the people.{{Cite web |last=NLD.COM.VN |title=Thông tin mới nhất về vụ gian lận XSKT ở Long An |url=https://nld.com.vn/thoi-su-trong-nuoc/thong-tin-moi-nhat-ve-vu-gian-lan-xskt-o-long-an-84354.htm |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=Báo Người Lao Động Online |language=vi}}{{Cite web |date=2003-12-16 |title=Xét xử phúc thẩm vụ gian lận ở Công ty Xổ số kiến thiết Long An |url=https://tuoitre.vn/xet-xu-phuc-tham-vu-gian-lan-o-cong-ty-xo-so-kien-thiet-long-an-12721.htm |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=TUOI TRE ONLINE |language=vi}} Lottery fraud takes many different forms, including: fraud in the lottery drawing process,{{Cite web |last=thanhnien.vn |date=2017-09-13 |title=Băng nhóm cờ bạc can thiệp vào kết quả xổ số như thế nào? |url=https://thanhnien.vn/bang-nhom-co-bac-can-thiep-vao-ket-qua-xo-so-nhu-the-nao-185694737.htm |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=thanhnien.vn |language=vi}}{{Cite web |date=2017-09-13 |title=Làm rõ quá trình can thiệp vào KQXS của băng nhóm cờ bạc nghìn tỷ |url=https://cafef.vn/lam-ro-qua-trinh-can-thiep-vao-kqxs-cua-bang-nhom-co-bac-nghin-ty-20170913154114189.chn |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=cafef |language=vi}}{{Cite web |date=2017-09-15 |title=Không có cách nào can thiệp vào việc quay số |url=https://www.anninhthudo.vn/post-329375.antd |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=Báo điện tử An ninh Thủ đô |language=vi}} fraud in the lottery printing process,{{Cite web |title=Gian lận vé số có thể bị truy cứu hình sự |url=http://baolam.caobang.gov.vn/Default.aspx?sid=1360&pageid=34518&catid=62413&id=533374&catname=tin-trong-tinh&title=gian-lan-ve-so-co-the-bi-truy-cuu-hinh-su |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=baolam.caobang.gov.vn |language=vi}}{{Cite web |last=NLD.COM.VN |title=Bệnh viện lại đi phát hành vé số |url=https://nld.com.vn/suc-khoe/chuyen-la-benh-vien-phat-hanh-ve-so-20180526163851916.htm |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=Báo Người Lao Động Online |language=vi}} fraud in the lottery ticket sales process.{{Cite web |last=thanhnien.vn |date=2013-03-30 |title=Vé số bán ế vẫn lãi cao - Kỳ 4: Từng xảy ra gian lận |url=https://thanhnien.vn/ve-so-ban-e-van-lai-cao-ky-4-tung-xay-ra-gian-lan-18533399.htm |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=thanhnien.vn |language=vi}}{{Cite web |last=Nguyen |first=Nam |date=2023-10-06 |title=Giải mã số học |url=https://giacmoso.com |access-date=2024-03-23 |language=vi}}{{Cite web |last=ONLINE |first=TUOI TRE |date=2023-10-06 |title=Khởi tố kẻ lừa tráo vé số của người phụ nữ không tay, không chân |url=https://tuoitre.vn/khoi-to-ke-lua-trao-ve-so-cua-nguoi-phu-nu-khong-tay-khong-chan-20231006192709057.htm |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=TUOI TRE ONLINE |language=vi}}
In popular culture
Lottery fraud has featured in films, television productions, and literature. David Baldacci's 1997 novel The Winner follows an impoverished young woman who is approached by a mysterious man that offers to arrange for her to win a $100,000,000 national lottery on the condition that she leaves the United States and never returns. The 2000 film Lucky Numbers depicts a TV weatherman, Russ Richards (John Travolta), who rigs the Pennsylvania Lottery in a story inspired by the 1980 Pennsylvania Lottery scandal.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/rogerebertsmovie00roge_6|url-access=registration|quote=Lucky Numbers travolta film lottery.|title=Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2003|last=Ebert|first=Roger|date=2002-12-02|publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing|isbn=9780740726910|pages=[https://archive.org/details/rogerebertsmovie00roge_6/page/373 373]|language=en}} In Class Warfare (2001), two high school students plot to murder a classmate to gain possession of his winning lottery ticket.{{cite web |last1=Fries |first1=Laura |title=Class Warfare |url=https://variety.com/2001/tv/reviews/class-warfare-1200468644/ |website=Variety |access-date=2 November 2019 |language=en |date=26 June 2001}} In Ridley Scott's 2003 film Matchstick Men, con artist Roy Waller (Nicolas Cage) teaches his daughter how to con a woman into believing she has won the lottery, and she shares her expected winnings with them.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xBGFacfGR0gC&q=Matchstick%20Men%20lottery%20con&pg=PA218|title=The Ridley Scott Encyclopedia|last=Raw|first=Laurence|date=2009-09-28|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810869523|pages=218|language=en}} A 2011 episode of the BBC TV documentary series The Real Hustle, a group of scammers pretend to be a lottery syndicate who have won a lottery. They persuade a member of the public to cash the ticket for them with a promise of a share in the prize pool.{{cite episode | title=The Real Hustle Episode 6: New Recruits | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015tz49 | access-date=1 November 2019 | series=The Real Hustle | series-link=The Real Hustle | network=BBC | station=BBC Three | date=11 December 2011 | series-no=Series 10 | language=En}}
References
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