Here’s a timely warning. Always check winning lottery tickets yourself.
Most lottery retailers are honest decent people. And they get a real buzz when their store creates a big lottery winner.
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Check Lottery Tickets Yourself… Or Else!
Thanks for the tip. I always check my numbers online, and trust the people where I buy my tickets.
What do you think of Lotto Magic? I’m thinking of joining, but it costs $50 per month.
thanks, beulah
Hey Beulah,
No problem.
Lotto Magic is OK. It’s been reliably going for something like 12 years now so has a good track record.
It plays the Florida Lotto (and optionally US PowerBall too). It’s actually only $25 per month, if you leave out the PowerBall. So if you’re in the USA give a shot, but I’d only recommend it for US players.
LG
In RI, our scanners do tell the customers how much you have won on online games. For the scratch ticks, it just says winner. Also on scratch tickets, the scanners cannot tell if it was already cashed. Most retailers have a display that tells me how much I won. Of course the ticket is no longer in your hand when the store checks it. Checking tickets online is no sure thing, those numbers are typed in by a lottery employee. Check more than one website.
So the scanners don’t tell you but the cashier will know if someone already cashed it?
When a player checks a scratch ticket I would scan the front barcode. But when the store scans it they actually scan the barcode on the back, and also scratch off a secret 4 digit security code. This is to prevent crooked stores from scanning the tickets and selling the losers to the customers and pocketing the winning tickets.
Wow, I hope I will never experience anything like that 🙁
Sure wished I was well informed, I’m about to lose out on a 16.5 million dollar jackpot because I fell for that exact thing. I took my ticket to get checked and it got kept by the clerk and when I went to complain to the lottery all they have done is to try to convince me that I’m not the winner. Winning this jackpot is 1:16 million… Odds of someone else picking my numbers, options, same place, same day within minutes and the ticket still being unclaimed are? I can’t even begin to add up the odds. Did I mention I’ve been at their door since day one.
Which lottery and what date Vato?
I’m investing in silence here in the area for I still have that bit of hope that the clerk will take greed over caution and then I may be able to put a claim on it. This jackpot is set to expire in three days… I just can’t believe that the lottery is making me feel to be the bad guy by saying I’m not the winner. They went public right away about having a video, but the thing is they never even had any intentions of showing it. I say it was a way to deter the clerk from coming forward. 16.5 Hot Lotto IA.
The thing that really gets to me is that I followed all rules, I paid for the ticket, I signed the ticket and I presented it for checking/validation. Because if a ticket is being checked and it’s a winner it automatically validates it. Why should I have to worry about the lotteries agent stealing it from me when I already got to worry about losing it, it getting destroyed and so on. If one presents the signed ticket to the agent the lottery should from there on be liable for their agents actions.
Hmm, lottery companies know when a winning ticket has been scanned. It’s possible the clerk didn’t actually scan the ticket but just checked the numbers manually though.
But they also know all tickets bought, plus when and where they were bought. And that together with previous ticket buying patterns can tell them a lot. Add in possible security camera footage, any previous suspicious claims by the sales clerk or close friends/family and there’s a lot they can do to prevent fraud.
So if you’re absolutely certain you have a valid claim, get legal representation, and fast.
I did. Three different firms later and it came down to ‘no ticket no payout’. That’s something they were not willing to challenge since I have no proof/ticket. And since no one has come forward there is no ticket to validate. The lottery said they have video but now eleven months out claim the video did not catch the winners face. This convenience store has state of the art surveillance, what are the odds.
I fill out the back of any lottery ticket I get in black ink as soon as I get it home and check on line to find out my winnings.
Very wise. If you want to be extra cautious I’d also suggest checking results from a second source too (e.g. self scanning machine). And hold on to your losing tickets for a while anyway, just in case someone publishes incorrect results.
I do now my friend, ain’t nobody touching my tickets from here on out, I just wished I was as informed as I am now because since this happened I now take every safe guard. See I thought I was being safe by signing the ticket but as you read that isn’t good enough because the word is no ticket no pay out. In other words if the clerk doesn’t present it for payment I’m out of 16.5 million. The lottery refuses to acknowledge my claim and I feel as though they didn’t investigate fully.
1hr and 50 minutes left and a claim is made. A blind trust clear out in New York. What are the odds. Apparently they had lawyers present the ticket.
Their identities will be kept confidential.
The truth we set you free!!!
I live by this phrase and am confident that today it will live up to it.
Good luck Vato. I sincerely hope this works out the way it should.
Well it’s been almost a month since I last reported.
Mr Crawford Shaw and his Hexham Trust withdrew their claim to the hot lotto prize because they could not produce the man in the video making the purchase but that is not what brought me here again.
The IA lottery had stated no ticket no payout, well as we know the ticket got presented and validated however the hell with the rightful owner they are still going to keep the loot.
So the question here is who is the real crook Mr Shaw and his crew or the IA lottery?
The IA lottery was already informed that the ticket was stolen and so they knew that Shaw and his crew didn’t have a chance. And at the same time they already had no intentions of paying the legitimate owner because someone else turned the ticket in there for they were the legal owners by law. Oh the hell with the treasure trove law in IA because they are part government which means they are above the law. Explains why the Governer already has two lawsuits pending and his only been in office 6 months… Go IA.
The IA lottery has said it’s a 50/50 chance to solve the case! Who are they kidding here, all they had to do was show the video.
I made all this possible by not making a police report and taking the chance of the greedy crooks coming forward instead of having them discard the ticket once they knew they had been discovered.
It’s been three months since they said the video was going to be made public. Hey IA lottery where is the video?
The crooks are in too deep, no backing out now, what’s there to lose. Give them a smack on the wrist a couple months probation and send them on the way.
Why would anybody hand a large winning lotto ticket to a store clerk? You should have brought it directly to the Lottery office. I assume you knew how much you won. Always ask for any validated losing tickets back and watch the store validate it to prevent switching tickets.
At the time I did not know it was a winner else I’d be in cabo zipping down some ice cold ones. The ag and dci have launched a full investigation into the matter but what will it mean for me, probably not a thing because ia has said that loot will go back to future prize pools. I guess three huge multi million dollar jackpots drawn twice weekly isn’t enough.
This claim had a lawyer representing a lawyer who represented the lawyer of the culprit. They basically formed a layer to protect each other and throw the representing firm under the bus.
Well the IA lottery is kicking off a big summer promotion to give away the millions. They are calling it the ‘Mystery Millionaire’.
But what has caught my attention is that after reading their promotion entry rules, they consistantly emphasize that the ticket must be ‘legally acquired’. The lottery must know that was the case with the Hot Lotto ticket of mine, but are playing it off as Mr Shaw withdrew, our job is done here…
The truth shall set you free…