PHOENIX — A man is accused of exploiting a flaw in the Arizona Lottery vending machines to get over $55,000 worth of lottery tickets.
Earlier this week, the Arizona Attorney general's Office filed charges against Everado Najera-Nava, 40, for computer tampering and fraud.
Investigators say that Nava exploited a flaw in Arizona Lottery vending machines that gave him $54,699 worth of lottery tickets without paying for them. Police say Nava would enter his debit card into the machine to start the transaction. He would then cancel the transaction. However, the machine would release the tickets before the cancellation took place.
Police say he did this over a two week period last summer.
Investigators reportedly found 279 canceled transactions associated with Nava's debit card. Court records show that Nava continued to try to get more tickets for free after the flaw was recognized and corrected.
Hmmmm....reminds me of the casinos. All wins Are null and void if malfunction occurs.
Some how this chap found the sweet spot in gaining tickets. No one was harmed in the making of this theft ;)
....what machine was it?
How did he cancel a debit card transaction? This is why retailers don't accept credit/debit cards as a form of payment for lottery tickets. Did he get any significant wins?
I bet he didn’t share this info That’s what he gets. Selfish butt
It doesn't say how many machines were involved but with $55,000 worth of tickets, it was certainly more than one.
The flaw is not the Debit card but the idiots that program a vending machine without testing it. When you pay with cash you can't cancel so why can you cancel and get ticket stupid 😠. And besides only in Arizona they are full of sh... anyway don't play there anymore they use computer number generator.
Everado probably thought..
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Actually i was in Arizona last month and they do allow you to purchase lottery tickets with a Debit card. It was a pleasant surprise that i took advantage of to save the cash i had on me for the vacation.
It may be that way in your state, IDK. Have used a credit card in KY for lottery purchases and debit in Indiana. Also visiting Arizona last summer tried to use one of their lottery machines with a credit card and didn't work. Had I PAID attention would've realized it only takes debit cards.
A man is accused of exploiting a flaw in the Arizona Lottery vending machines
It's similar to an ATM spitting out thousand. I don't understand how anybody thinks they can keep the money especially when they have your identity from the debit card.
Even if Najera-Nava pays restitution he might still spend some jail time.
I bet there are many Arizona lottery players who've known about this trick for a while, but they've all flown under the radar because they paced themselves and stole small amounts infrequently. Everado the dumb desperado when loco and ruined it for all the low-level scammers.
PB and MM available on IGT machines are not RNG, nor are scratch tickets. I agree 100% it is a programming issue that certainly red faced AZ lotto officials should have fixed by now.
I definitely believe that this happened also. lol
"IGT machines are not RNG"
Are you saying all the PB and MM tickets purchased at vending machines must be self-picks? Could you clarify your remarks?
"nor are scratch tickets"
While there is no random number generator deciding which ticket a player gets, all the tickets are randomly distributed. Most the vending machines here take play slips and play slips have QP options. They all have buttons for PB and MM play.
"When you pay with cash you can't cancel so why can you cancel and get ticket stupid "
Because the machine doesn't have to give back cash when you cancel a debit card transaction. In addition to a policy of keeping any cash you put in the machine it's more complicated to make a machine that gives back change than one that simply keeps all of the money.
I'm guessing that the other important difference is that cash is prepaid. To get $10 worth of tickets with cash you have to put in $10. Debit cards could work like pre-paying inside a gas station, where the payment sets a limit and if you don't need that much you can get a refund, but some genius probably figured it was easier to wait until all the tickets were selected and then total the amount due. That would be a perfectly sensible method if the tickets were only released once payment was finalized, but maybe the tickets were released as soon as they were selected.
FWIW, this isn't a lot different than the problem CT had a few years back that allowed clerks to request tickets, cancel the transaction, and still get the tickets. Lotteries must hire a lot of people who are slow learners.
The computer picks your numbers for you, so in that sense it is RNG through the satellite dish to Louisville. The machine itself, from what I understand and could be wrong, does not in itself have RNG capabilities. You can still do a playslip and it is like that in the MANY states I've played and not all states have IGT machines; some are Scientific Games. Scratch tickets (hello) for obvious reasons are not RNG and the lottery has no idea of which machine/cashier has winners.
Should've known, but now He knows.