The Tennessee Attorney Generals Office is working with the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation (TELC) to determine how to deal with illegal tickets being circulated throughout Tennessee.
TELC CEO Rebecca Paul said she first heard about the problem from victims of the scam who wanted the TELC to refund their money.
They look like a lottery ticket, they scratch like a lottery ticket, but they are a phone card, Paul said, adding some victims reported that when they asked a retailer for lottery tickets, they were sold these illegal phone cards.
However, Paul said these retailers were not approved to sell lottery tickets.
Were working through the law enforcement and with the Attorney Generals office, Paul said. We have told all of our retailers that it is illegal to [sell those phone cards as lottery tickets] and if they do so, theyll lose their contract with us.
Gina Barham with the Attorney Generals Office said her office would issue an opinion on the illegal lottery tickets in the near future.
The only way a lottery is legal is through this office (TELC), Barham said, adding the Attorney Generals Office had discussed the issue about a phone card before the first lottery games started.
TELC board members voiced their concern about possible damage these illegal tickets sales could do to the credibility of the Tennessee Lottery.
Lottery officials urge their customers to make sure retailers who sell lottery tickets have the official TELC logo displayed. In addition, every ticket displays the logo on the front and the game rules on the back.
Overall, Paul reported she was very happy with the first two weeks of the Tennessee Lottery. As of Monday morning, $68 million in tickets had been sold.
Paul said other states showed a decline in sales of about 50 percent in the second week, but she expected Tennessees decline to be significantly less. Official numbers will be released today.
Three additional instant ticket games Sizzling 7s, Black Jack, Gold Fever were started Friday and Volunteer Millionaire was added Monday, even though initial plans were to release them today. Paul said the earlier release came after the high volume of sales caused some of the other games ticket numbers to run low.
Lucky 7s is clearly the favorite game. Paul said. She added that by the end of the fiscal year, she expects 30 games to be on the market. By the end of 2004, there will be about 50 games.
At any given time, individual retailers will carry 30-40 games, she said.
Regional sales in Nashville were the highest with $21.3 million. Chattanooga sold $10.8 million in tickets, Knoxville $10.9 million, Memphis $17.5 and the Tri-Cities $5 million.
As of Monday 3,761 retailers were selling lottery tickets, which is 243 more than two weeks ago.
The top 25 retailers were primarily located in areas along the Alabama and Georgia state lines.
Online games will begin before March 20, Paul said. The first online game is called Cash 3 and will include televised daily drawings.
I have seen those scratch off phone cards before. There are a few stores in my area that sells them. Most of the time the store redeems them for a cash prize. It's perfectly legal to sell them, because it really is a phone card. But it's illegal to pay cash prizes on a winner. Get this, the cards cost $1, and has 1 min of phone time. So you know it was made just to play an illegal lottery.
I have seen those scratch off phone cards before. There are a few stores in my area that sells them. Most of the time the store redeems them for a cash prize. It's perfectly legal to sell them, because it really is a phone card. But it's illegal to pay cash prizes on a winner. Get this, the cards cost $1, and has 1 min of phone time. So you know it was made just to play an illegal lottery.