OMG i knew it Mr Patel is arrested too WOW 

All states with lottery should be doing this.

Here in Illinois, all our ticket sellers have their own scanning machines near the register for customers.  I scan EVERY scratcher or jackpot ticket before I had it to the clerk.  I ended up finding some winning scratcher I thought were losers and others with a bigger prize then I thought.

The scanners were put there for exactly the same reason as this article.

Yes, Ohio has them too. and I use them too, and am surprised by how many people I see still hand their ticket to clerk to check. when I mention the self scanner, I've been told, they don't trust the scanners. 

Georgia has self-scanners.    Georgia Lottery also has a phone app with scanner to check tickets available for download at https://www.galottery.com/en-us/home.html. 

  It would be great if all states had apps like that.

Another Patel arrested? Lot of minorities involved in those frauds for some reason.

It's a family tradition. It's very much like being a pirate. Jack Sparrow became one because Teague his Father was.

* Your winning ticket is a losing one,but why don't you hand it to me, l can dispose of it in this garbage container right here. No worries.

i use them all the time

I'm guessing these tickets had to be scratch-offs because when a lottery ticket is found a winner, a little "Tada" jingle can be heard from the machine indicating a winner. I know his because I used to live in Floriduh.

What a mug shot!

 ICE might be looking @ her, seems like they are on a rampage lately.

I thought for a quick second no Patel's...but was wrong.

Always scan my own tickets, IMO Indiana has the worst self scanners ever.  Just bought my winning PB and or MM tickets there since we've had two back to back winning tickets in Kentucky.

Have a great weekend fellow LP members!

South Carolina need to!!! I was talking to a man a few months ago at the gas station. He was telling me he just cashed a ticket for $400. He told me he saw the same number more than 1X and he had a multiplier. This person go to the same store everyday because he don't know how to bubble in the tickets. I personally know this person so I know his situation and the owner of the store know what he can and can't do. My point is this man I believe actually hit for $1000 not $400. He told me the owner know him so well he just looked  at his ticket and hand him $400 he didn't even check it on the machine.

I believe in free speech but dayum! That was one of the most racist comments I have ever seen on Lp.
Thank Goodness that we all know that Todd does not condone such nonsene so I will stay as a member, but shame on you! There is no way for you to know if Patel is a minority. Even if he is, so what? There are more non-minorities doing crimes everyday but are not blessed to find a jail cell as a home because of "white privilege".

I am offended and I'm sure many others are also..... White, Black, and others.

When I used to buy paper tickets instead of online I would check them myself with the numbers online and if I handed over a ticket I would always ask for it back.

Too many shady people. Once when I bought a ticket I saw a woman hand a clerk a ticket, he said no winner, tossed it untorn, the woman left and the clerk picket it out ouf the trash and scanned it again. Not with me! I want my money!

AGREED!

GM- Perhaps there are Patels doing the same thing in Norway, where they possibly are a minority.

Say what you will: That's one impressive mug shot. It's the look of shock co mingled with this must be a "weird dream, l know l will snap out of it any minute now."

I don't know about Florida, but Ohio machines can be adjusted, some are very loud,some you can hardly here,probably sound could be turned off all together.

There's many people that probably do this. Just double check your tickets and go to a place like a large supermarket chain to cash in. Obviously he was a suspect.

Most of the times, the scanner simply says winner with no amount...in my area. So I look it up before hand.

Texas has a app that you can download for your phone .You can scan the ticket with your app to find out what you won, I would still double check on the lottery websight.  You can check it out at the bottom of the Texas lottery websight

The reason is simple and obvious, but still too difficult for the average bigot to figure out.

GM's profile shows Connecticut.

Well Stack if that be so, then perhaps the Patels in Conn are in the minority. I don't go sniffing around to figure out where members are truly from. If l am not mistaken one of the rules for being a member here is to be truthful about where you reside.Last time checked, Conn does not border Norway.

.

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD FOR PEOPLE TO BEWARE, and check their stuff.
NOT JUST FOR "US" HERE IN LP.

I am appalled by the news. This should not happen anywhere.  I hate to read about this stuff.   It seems to happen mostly in Fla., Illinois, Pa.   Not sure, otherwise. 
Why is it even allowed to happen?

I'm grateful, I've yet to be "hit" like that.

When/If/Until I hit something significant, I'm just going to use my usual store, with the Asian clerks, whom I trust implicitly. 

OH, there was one clerk in my area, who pulled some stuff like that, until I caught him.  I confronted him about it, and he's like "oh oh,  my fault. . . ", but he had taken me several times before that.   At that time, I wasn't buying a fixed amount, as I have been doing for the past couple years.
I happened to visit that clerk/owner, recently, for gas. He'd asked where I'd been. He asked me
"Do you still play lotto?".   I said "yeah, every week, and a heck of a lot more than I spent here."

I've posted Craigslist notices in my city, for people to watch and double-check their tickets, whenever buying anywhere.  Please do likewise, and post such warnings on your local CL.

here in MO when they scan your ticket to check it if you won even $1 it plays music so they can not tell you that you didnt win

Two rules of thumb:

Always retain your non winning tickets. They make for tax write off sometimes!  Also good for tabulating how much you spend in a year's time on gaming. 

Rule 2: request the print out ...Of "winner"or " this is not a winning ticket". Most machines allow for these print outs. If a clerk tells you that it's not an option..Contact your lottery headquarters. With the store #,location. 

I'm surprised that someone didn't chime in that maybe it's just a case of re training staff in operating procedures.

" Whom l trust implicitly?"

Implicity: Completely, Totally, Unconditionally...Wow Groppo.

I use the Idaho lottery app to scan my tickets and it tells you the amount won. Idaho also has the self scanners in the gas station but they do not tell you the amount won. I like the self scanners in CA that tell you how much you've won. I think every state should offer an app to check tickets :] 

Good luck everyone

Unless it's a scratch off, I am amazed how so many people get ripped off like this. You can check your numbers in your local newspaper, there is a phone number on the back of the ticket you can call, or you can just Google "winning lottery numbers."

I would not trust a store clerk after hearing all these stories. No offense meant to all the honest clerks, but you never know what someone elses financial situation is like.

Don't take a chance. Check you own tickets!!!

Another member called you a bigot, you thought they lived in Norway, I corrected your geography mistake, and then you decide to prove to me and whomever else reads your reply the member from Connecticut was correct.

BTW, if you look under members' avatars, you might see a city and state, a state, or a country.

Hey noise, stack is always twisting things around. It's not hard to follow that millionswanted is in Norway, and you were referring to that.

I do believe that not all Patels are crooked, maybe some are, and some of all races are crooked.

As far as being cheated. Well, it's a simple matter to check the state lottery's website where a person bought the ticket and check the numbers before even going into the store to cash it. I know exactly what my winning tix are worth before I ever walk into the store. I don't rely on scanners or anyone to tell me.

Perhaps it is easier to steal from people that don't look too similar to self. 

Gee Stack- what was that all about?

First off: Greatmaltz highlighted the response of Millionswanted, who it states lives in Norway. You were focused on Maltz's residence State, l was not.It would seem that the point went over your head. More importantly, l am not a bigot, someone saying so,does not make it true.

Second off:This situation is no different than someone being contacted through email by a Nigerian lottery Scam- does that make all Nigerians crooks? Short answer: No! It just so happens that when this particular name appears in print involving clerks scamming customers, we are hardly surprised.

The End.

STEREOTYPE ........we are all guilty of stereotyping, at one point or another. Some of us manage to outgrow it and some of us just can't give it up. Any way you look at it, it's still a terrible thing.

I kind of "laugh" whenever I see stories about Nigerian Lottery Scam. I'm pretty sure those Nigerians are not laughing whenever they see those stories. The funny part is that some of those scams, originate from the Islands, Russia and even here in the United States, but all those Nigerians get shoved under the bus, even the ones that have never seen a computer before. SAD.

What is so difficult to understand Noise replied to Greatmaltz' post and GM shows Connecticut?

"I do believe that not all Patels are crooked, maybe some are, and some of all races are crooked."

Have any comments about all the people named Manson, Dahmer, Capone, Gacy, Dillinger, Ray, or Oswald too?

Greatmaltz never mentioned Millions or Norway in their post. Only you know why you mentioned "Patels in Norway" and commented on Kamlawatie Persaud's "impressive mugshot" and why you're now saying "I am not a bigot". If you had a beef with Millions, why didn't you simply reply to their post?

To get back on topic, lots of state lotteries test their retailers and find dishonest clerks and store owners. I try to avoid cashing tickets at stores that hide their lottery monitor that show if or not a ticket is a winner.

"The End"

Regardless of their names, the scamming attempts will never end.

What the heck are you going on about Stack? My mention of the " impressive mugshot" is an opinion, mine and mine only.

Chew on this: When LP reported on the $2 million Hoosier lottery scam it involved a female named Ashlee Parsley who just so happens to be White. I made a comment on her as well, saying that she is going to look great in an orange jumpsuit. I did not see you respond to my post back then, and l wonder why? You don't like my opinions,don't respond to them, just turn away. You have definitely lost a step or two. I have no beef with anyone, despite the rumor.

Advice: When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging!

I bet Mr. PATEL has never paid a dime of federal income taxes.  Sooner or later your sins will catch up to you one way or another.  They've just caught up to Mr. PATEL. Divine Providence has put the hammer down on this one.  Justice is served.

Report the store to SCEL and let them investigate.  If they did that to one person they are dong it others.

Many of you know how I always stuck up for the store clerk's because of the way I always trained mine, If It was a non winner we offered It back to the customer If they didn't want we ripped It up and threw It Into the trash In front of the customer, no questions or doubt that way!

I have since been ripped off about 2wks ago for $25. ON 1 TICKET & $50. on another, by the clerk then by the owner of the store! They were not Scratch off tickets! These were stores that we always go to, YES I WANTED TO GO BEAT THE TAR OUT OF THE BOTH OF THEM, they have jobs an are able to work I am not, not that It matters, but you still don't do that to people, how would they like It If someone did that to them???

I always check my tickets online thats how I knew how much I won. My son takes them to the store an cashes them In for me an believed what the clerk said instead on me, my son thought I looked at It wrong, guess he's like everyone else an thinks because I'm In a Wheelchair that my BRAIN doesn't work because my legs don't???

Not racist at all. Just taking a notice of yet another Patel caught in Lottery fraud. Do I say every Patel is crooked? No. 

Just do a search for Patel here on LP covering all of history, and you will see it pops up a lot.

I just happened to be "surfing" comments now. I think your last line : Advice.......                    is GREAT!  thankyou!!!!!

You're really missing the point.

It's a fact many of the news stories about lottery scams mention a member of the Patel clan so it's hardly racism when someone comments on it. When Millions said "Another Patel arrested? Lot of minorities involved in those frauds for some reason." you said "It's a family tradition" and something about a fictional pirate.

I don't know if someone living in Norway knows that many convenient stores in the U.S. are owned and/or operated by "minorities", but someone living in Connecticut should. When you responded to Great's tangent and mentioned Norway, I simply pointed out that Greatmaltz shows Connecticut and nothing else. I never called you a bigot, racist, or anything else, but you felt the need to say "I am not a bigot" and then went on to say you don't think all Nigerians are crooks.

Your opinions about Patels, mugshots, or Nigerians are useless in preventing lottery players from being scammed. Just saying.

"Lot of minorities involved in those frauds for some reason."

Some of the fraudulent clerks probably blame it on ignorance of the process or the language barrier. The way things are going in 50 years the Patel clan will not be in the minority.

On the other side of of the coin, I know of four stores within 10 miles that are owned and operated by Asians or Middle Easterners, but never heard any of them accused of lottery fraud.

l can see that you still hanging onto that shovel.

This is ridiculous. People need to start using the self scanner. I would save so much time. You can't rust these clerks!!

Are you talking about the shovel your fictional pirate uses to bury your imaginary jackpot winnings?

As Rocket would say " Oh Yeah."