Organized lottery fraud ring led by one woman nets over six figures in damages

By Kate Northrop

A Missouri woman was indicted by a federal grand jury for orchestrating a conspiracy to buy nearly 2,000 lottery tickets with stolen credit cards, totaling over $116,000 in fraudulent winnings and purchases.

On Wednesday, Amy Young, 31, was charged in a two-count indictment in Springfield, Missouri, related to a scheme she conducted to defraud the lottery of cash prizes.

Young was accused of stealing credit cards and using them to buy lottery tickets at a Phillips 66 Fuel Station in Joplin, Missouri between July 22 and Aug. 18, 2022.

FBI investigators found that she enlisted the help of co-conspirators to cash in tickets that won cash prizes, as well as file claims for tickets holding prizes large enough that required a ticketholder to contact the Missouri Lottery. Those aiding Young kept a portion of the winnings for themselves and handed over the rest of the money to her.

Using stolen credit cards, Young had purchased at least 1,957 lottery tickets valued at $62,082, the indictment states. She and her co-conspirators received $54,248 in cash prizes from tickets purchased with the cards.

Factoring in the fraudulent credit charges and the fraudulently received lottery winnings, Young and her fraud ring received at least $116,330, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri said.

Young is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud. She has not yet been declared guilty or innocent. Evidence supporting the charges would have to be presented to a federal trial jury in order to determine her guilt or innocence.