Lottery scammer rigged more drawings than first thought, records show

Feb 19, 2018, 6:03 pm (23 comments)

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The computer program that a former lottery security official used to rig drawings worth millions of dollars in Iowa and other states was more expansive than investigators first discovered, court records filed last week show.

Eddie Tipton, a former employee of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) in Clive, wrote the code to allow him to predict the randomly drawn numbers of multimillion-dollar jackpots in as many as 17 states and claim the cash prizes.

The code remained active and undetected for almost a decade before Iowa officials in 2015 discovered Tipton's scheme. It allowed Tipton and his accomplices to defraud the system on specific days each year, which investigators initially believed were Nov. 23 and Dec. 29.

But an independent security audit conducted by the Multi-State Lottery revealed at least one more date was written into Tipton's code for picking the winning numbers: May 27.

Tipton was sentenced last year to up to 25 years in prison for rigging lotteries in Iowa, Colorado, Wisconsin, Kansas and Oklahoma. But he was not prosecuted for rigging drawings on any May 27 dates.

He told investigators that they had identified all the fraudulent wins associated with his scheme and said he didn't attempt others.

His brother, Tommy Tipton, told investigators something different.

Tommy Tipton — who acknowledged being tied to his brother's $4.5 million rigged jackpot win in Colorado in 2005 — said Eddie gave him numbers for at least two other drawings that he tried to use to win jackpots. But he didn't win.

The additional May 27 window means there are probably more potential fraud cases, according to Evan Teitelman of SeNet International Corp.

The Multi-State Lottery hired SeNet in 2015 to help perform a security evaluation following Tipton's arrest.

MUSL is a non-profit, government-benefit association headquartered in Clive that is owned and operated by its 36 member lotteries, including the Iowa Lottery.

It provides security, information technology and draw services to its members.

MUSL is refusing to make SeNet's evaluation available in a civil case in which Larry Dawson of Webster City, Iowa, contends that his jackpot was smaller than it should have been as a result of Tipton's fraudulent win.

In a separate case, Burlington, Iowa, resident Dale Culler is additionally seeking a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all players cheated out of lottery wins by Tipton's manipulated drawings.

Teitelman made the comments about the newly discovered third rigged date during a July 30 Def Con 25 Hacker conference called "Backdooring the Lottery and Other Security Tales from Gaming."

His presentation was cited last week by Dawson's lawyers in an effort to compel Multi-State Lottery to release the full evaluation.

"This is just known cases of fraud," Teitelman said. "There are probably more, especially since we found a third date in the code itself."

Teitelman could not be reached for comment Friday, but Gus Fritschie, another executive of SeNet and a co-presenter at the July conference, confirmed the security evaluation uncovered the third rigged date.

Investigators have reviewed games they believe Tipton could have tampered with, including the May 27 dates, Dave Jobes, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, said Friday.

"We did our best to identify any of those across the country based on what information that we had," Jobes said.

Tommy Tipton, a former Texas magistrate, was sentenced to a 75-day jail sentence in Texas after he pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to commit theft by deception. 

Robert Rhodes, a friend of Eddie Tipton's and an accomplice of the scheme, was sentenced to two years probation after pleading guilty to fraud.

Bret Tyone, CEO of MUSL, said he couldn't comment Friday, citing ongoing litigation.

The possibility that more games were rigged deserves further review, said Gary Dickey, Culler's attorney in the case seeking class-action status.

"Any drawing that was rigged to produce predetermined numbers was not random," Dickey said. "Even if no jackpot was claimed, the players would still have been defrauded by being deprived of the random drawing they were promised."

Timeline of the biggest crime in US lottery history

The following is a compilation of Lottery Post news coverage chronicling the Hot Lotto mystery and subsequently discovered crime.

We start the timeline with a news story indicating that only 3 months remained for the $16 million Hot Lotto jackpot to be claimed.

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Thanks to lejardin for the tip.

Des Moines Register, Lottery Post Staff

Comments

music*'s avatarmusic*

Thank You lejardin for the tip.  The RNG games are to blame. Along with the immoral behavior and criminal conduct by the criminals here. 

 Have any other States learned from these cases? Have they changed from RNG to balls drawn?

Lurking

Bleudog101

Quote: Originally posted by music* on Feb 19, 2018

Thank You lejardin for the tip.  The RNG games are to blame. Along with the immoral behavior and criminal conduct by the criminals here. 

 Have any other States learned from these cases? Have they changed from RNG to balls drawn?

Lurking

music*, I think you answered your own question second sentence.  RNG probably here to stay and lotteries could care less.  I personally try to not play them.

eddessaknight's avatareddessaknight

Quote: Originally posted by music* on Feb 19, 2018

Thank You lejardin for the tip.  The RNG games are to blame. Along with the immoral behavior and criminal conduct by the criminals here. 

 Have any other States learned from these cases? Have they changed from RNG to balls drawn?

Lurking

lejardin, appreciate the real reveal =  greater conceal 

                                                 Thinking of...

Pro Player & FairGame Advocatus

Eddessa_Knight with SecretSun Smiley Light 

Bodia77

Quote: Originally posted by music* on Feb 19, 2018

Thank You lejardin for the tip.  The RNG games are to blame. Along with the immoral behavior and criminal conduct by the criminals here. 

 Have any other States learned from these cases? Have they changed from RNG to balls drawn?

Lurking

More reason why i have stopped playing the new lotto america. No live draws no after draws video anywhere to be found. Only happens when they are using RNG.

Which i don't trust anymore. NO VIDEOS NO PLAY

Artist77's avatarArtist77

I think every member of lp knew this! Lol

ckrakowski

"The code remained active and undetected for almost a decade"

 

 Um wow. These lotteries just suffed a set back they will never recover from.

 

They have also just lost a lot of money from the upcoming lawsuits.

 

I wonder how many jackpots were rigged and people did not even know yet still played.

 

"Tipton was sentenced last year to up to 25 years in prison for rigging lotteries in Iowa, Colorado, Wisconsin, Kansas and Oklahoma."

 

I play the scratch tickets for the colorado lottery but I am not sure if I will ever again. Yes I know the rigging was not the scratch tickets but I do not trust them anymore.

lejardin's avatarlejardin

Quote: Originally posted by Bodia77 on Feb 19, 2018

More reason why i have stopped playing the new lotto america. No live draws no after draws video anywhere to be found. Only happens when they are using RNG.

Which i don't trust anymore. NO VIDEOS NO PLAY

I have an advance ticket for Lotto America and up until this past week I never got even one number, I finally won $3 lol.  To date it still has not been won and most of the money was from the old Hot Sizzler Lotto that had not been won in months either.  I will not be buying any more of those tickets.  Good point, no videos, no play.

I dont know about others but I am getting sick and tired of all the games and fraud.

music*'s avatarmusic*

Quote: Originally posted by Bleudog101 on Feb 19, 2018

music*, I think you answered your own question second sentence.  RNG probably here to stay and lotteries could care less.  I personally try to not play them.

I only play PB & MM. I usually buy one ticket per draw. It only takes one ticket to win. If I played more than that my odds would not improve.

 Both games are drawn with rubber balls. The Security surrounding them is intense.

Dance

noise-gate

l somewhat knew that Eddie’s operation was more extensive, and what do you know..the plot thickens! When all is said and done, the authorities will be scratching their heads for years to come.

Bleudog101

Quote: Originally posted by lejardin on Feb 19, 2018

I have an advance ticket for Lotto America and up until this past week I never got even one number, I finally won $3 lol.  To date it still has not been won and most of the money was from the old Hot Sizzler Lotto that had not been won in months either.  I will not be buying any more of those tickets.  Good point, no videos, no play.

I dont know about others but I am getting sick and tired of all the games and fraud.

Been asleep on this one.  Didn't know Lotto America was back in a smaller version.

 

I went to the website and maybe missed it, but is it RNG?  I would hope NOT after valuable lessons should have been learned following the Tipton caper.

Bodia77

Quote: Originally posted by Bleudog101 on Feb 20, 2018

Been asleep on this one.  Didn't know Lotto America was back in a smaller version.

 

I went to the website and maybe missed it, but is it RNG?  I would hope NOT after valuable lessons should have been learned following the Tipton caper.

Due to falling sales of Hot Lotto (whose final drawing was October 28, 2017), a new version of Lotto America became available on November 12, 2017; its first drawing was November 15, 2017. Lotto America is available wherever Hot Lotto was offered at the time of its final drawing (except New Hampshire, which is expected to join in June 2018.) Lotto America is drawn on Wednesday and Saturday nights after 11 p.m. ET/10 p.m. CT. For each $1 play, bettors choose five numbers from 1 through 52, and a "star ball" numbered from 1 through 10, or ask for terminal-generated numbers. For an additional $1 per play, the bettor can add the "All-Star Bonus" option, which multiplies non-jackpot prizes by 2, 3, 4, or 5. The minimum Lotto America jackpot is $2 million; however, the game's initial jackpot was $15 million; the 13 members chose to augment the jackpot with funds from Hot Lotto, whose final jackpot was not won.

Unlike Hot Lotto, which used a random number generator during most of its run (including the infamous December 2010 drawing whose jackpot was "won" by Eddie Tipton, a MUSL employee), Lotto America is drawn using physical ball machines and numbered balls. One machine draws the five main numbers while another is used to draw the "Star Ball". These draws are streamed live over the Internet from Tallahassee, Florida, even though Florida does not participate in the game. 

 

Yet there are no videos or any proof on this New Lotto America is not the same as the Hot Lotto. Even my State lottery don't know what is going on . I stopped playing them sticking with Lucky for life and the occasional powerball.

Sarge0202

Yet there are no videos or any proof on this New Lotto America is not the same as the Hot Lotto. Even my State lottery don't know what is going on . I stopped playing them sticking with Lucky for life and the occasional powerball.

 

Apparently you can see the drawing after it's done at <link removed>

 

Nothing on youtube, not even under the Florida lottery channel

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by Sarge0202 on Feb 20, 2018

Yet there are no videos or any proof on this New Lotto America is not the same as the Hot Lotto. Even my State lottery don't know what is going on . I stopped playing them sticking with Lucky for life and the occasional powerball.

 

Apparently you can see the drawing after it's done at <link removed>

 

Nothing on youtube, not even under the Florida lottery channel

I have removed that link you posted, because it is NOT an official lottery website, and that is NOT the official drawing.

Bodia77

Quote: Originally posted by Sarge0202 on Feb 20, 2018

Yet there are no videos or any proof on this New Lotto America is not the same as the Hot Lotto. Even my State lottery don't know what is going on . I stopped playing them sticking with Lucky for life and the occasional powerball.

 

Apparently you can see the drawing after it's done at <link removed>

 

Nothing on youtube, not even under the Florida lottery channel

I mean how hard is it to make a 1 minute video and upload it on Youtube. They want us to buy tickets but don't wanna show us what we are paying for.

Some transparency they got there.

Everything on this new Lotto America is Fishy. Until i see a video of this game am not buying. 

But good luck to anyone playing Lotto America.

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