Clerk arrested in undercover Lottery sting

Comment #28

KY Floyd — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 18:01:04 GMT

As a practical mater that's how it's already done.They retailers aren't employees or true legal agents of the lottery, but they are authorized by the lottery to sell the tickets.

Comment #27

KY Floyd — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 17:58:12 GMT

This has nothing to do with non-winning combinations or the cut-off time for ticket sales. Every single lottery ticket is printed with a unique indentity, and that identity is one of the things the lottery uses to validate a ticket as a winner. The lottery could print a winning ticket for a game that doesn't exist. Modern technology means that anybody can print a ticket that looks like a real winner, as long as they know what a winning ticket looks like. Once the winning numbers have been drawn,... [ More ]

Comment #26

rdgrnr — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 16:43:38 GMT

That's a slippery slope, ca-.

First it's lottery officials only.

Then it's government officials under a Lottery Czar.

Then it's government robots.

Then it's armed government robots.

Have you ever seen the movie Westworld with Yul Brynner?

Exactly.

Comment #25

ca-dreamin* — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 13:37:44 GMT

i agree with this also!!!! Or maybe lottery tickets should be sold by lottery officials only. I know that would be a pain but hey.

Comment #24

DoctorJeckell — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 14:50:25 GMT

I guess now I am wondering if the lottery office can print a winning ticket, then I can assume they know what the non-winning combinations are after 9:00 PM ( the cut off time for buying numbers) Are we really sure about which combination of numbers comes up? Ater all they can produce a winning ticket. So lets just bring up another non-winning combination tonight. we could'nt take a chance on multiple winners which, I never heard of. BUSTED ! I have been playing supercash since 1989. 15 bucks a... [ More ]

Comment #23

Divine Guidance — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 05:12:32 GMT

Sounds like entrapement, however it also goes to show how dishonest people can be, wow ! alot of people trust the person behind the register to be honest, i never hand my tickets to anyone to check for me, i check them myself.

Comment #22

rdgrnr — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:32:59 GMT

I'd like to see states all put in scanners that tell you what you've won and possibly stamp it on the ticket. I know there are those who say if you can't check your own ticket you shouldn't be playing and all that but in reality there are a lot of lower IQ people playing and we all know it. Why not give them a little confidence in the system or at least a way to know what they've got coming and are not going to be ripped off by some scheming clerk.

Tennessee is too backwards looking to have s... [ More ]

Comment #21

TheGameGrl — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 11:54:12 GMT

Thanks KY! Fortunately I was making lite of the situation. Didnt mean to make it a serious discussion. Life does that enough.

Comment #20

KY Floyd — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 07:34:23 GMT

Signing the ticket would be a great idea if you thought the penalty for defrauding a player should only be a $50 fine. Simply making a mistake isn't a crime. If the clerk doesn't try to claim the prize how would you prove that they intended to defraud the player

Comment #19

TheOtherOne — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 02:15:02 GMT

I am with you Litebets.

In some ways I *almost* wish it were illegal for clerks to play the lottery, but I know that is unfair to them , especially since I worked at 2 different gas stations when I was younger (my first 2 jobs actually).

But undercover tests like this need to happen to ensure they are kept in line.

Comment #18

Tenaj — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:34:43 GMT

I don't know. You would think that with all the undercover busts going on clerks would be scared to continue to do that.

Comment #17

savagegoose — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:17:27 GMT

here in my town tyhey are soon installing player scanners so we can check our own tickets.

I have heard about scannerrs making mistakes and people tossing tickets.so still will have to hold on till after.

best to visually check your own numbers.

we do have a display facing the player, that shows the value of thew scanned ticket,m but i always felt a crafty crook could scan a known loser ,, behind their counter, showing a no win result. and pocket your ticket for later.

Comment #16

ScubaGolfJim — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 23:47:55 GMT

Actually, there was no encouragement to defraud committed by the lottery rep, so there was no entrapment. If the rep had been told an amount and then the rep offered to accept a lower payment due to an existing tax issue or such, that would be entrapment. Merely supplying the opportunity to commit a crime is not considered entrapment. Suggesting or encouraging the committing of a crime would be entrapment. But a defense lawyer would indeed try to argue that anyway.

But I do love your i... [ More ]

Comment #15

TheGameGrl — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 22:38:23 GMT

In PA with the introduction of the scanners, it can only read one type of bar code scans. The instant tickets carry a Box with a different set of scans to be read. Consider it an entirely different type of bar code language. Sorta like it can read english but not gaelic.

I seriously would love to be one of the compliance ticket folks, here is what I would do extra...after they read the ticket and proclaimed the amount I would get the meager cash they claimed it was ...then ****** Ask them for... [ More ]

Comment #14

Litebets27 — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 21:29:00 GMT

I've been guilty of buying some of those taped tickets. But, where I play, the tickets were usually generated when the customer wanted some other game or they could not pay for all of the tickets they asked for.

Mind you, I don't think I ever cashed in on any of these tickets, so that was a waste. But you never know who could have discarded the winning numbers.

Comment #13

sully16 — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:37:53 GMT

I agree , one gas station always has unsold tickets taped to the register in hopes some one just won' t be able to pass them up..always its for big jackpot games.

Comment #12

maringoman — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:35:19 GMT

true that. It seems guys here would rather blame the honest victim rather than the crook. When you go to a store you expect to be dealt with in a fair manner and the law assures us so.

Comment #11

Litebets27 — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:52:21 GMT

Neat trick. I hope all of the States employ this tactic, to bring some honesty back into the system.

It's got to be hard to police the retailers and their practices.

Comment #10

sully16 — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:39:44 GMT

Throw the book at her....some of these clerks will take your teeth if you let them.

Comment #9

rdgrnr — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:16:09 GMT

I know the feeling tiggs.

I thought I was wrong once but luckily I was mistaken.

Comment #8

KY Floyd — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:30:22 GMT

Wait I don't understand, if they tried to claim a wrongful prize, why aren't they being persecuted by the AD?

I've got no idea why the lottery and the prosecutor wouldn't have figured it out ahead of time, but it sounds like they aren't sure if she should be prosecuted in the jurisdiction where the ticket was taken, or where she tried to claim the ticket. It seems to me there should be an easy answer to that: both. She committed one crime by fraudulently taking the ticket, and another by try... [ More ]

Comment #7

tiggs95 — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:17:42 GMT

Once again tiggs is wrong..When will he ever learn..

Comment #6

tiggs95 — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:01:01 GMT

If you got time to go into a store and buy a ticket you got time to check the numbers to see if you won and how much the ticket is worth..

Comment #5

LotteryJunkiE99 — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:26:20 GMT

Wait I don't understand, if they tried to claim a wrongful prize, why aren't they being persecuted by the AD? And as far as that winning ticket goes, from what I get of it, it wasn't part of the game itself in terms of sales, just a ticket that showed up as a winner that carried the label of the game? Hmm..., either case I hope they start doing this in all states, people don't hate me for saying this, but most people it's not that they don't care, it's just that they don't have the time to check... [ More ]

Comment #4

rdgrnr — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:13:19 GMT

I gotta disagree tiggs. I bet they get away with it all the time.

Do you think that this was the first time that this broad ripped somebody off and she just happened to get caught by an investigator on her first try?

I don't.

I hope we hear what happens to her now since she hasn't even been charged with a crime.

Comment #3

tiggs95 — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:52:31 GMT

If a person dosen't know how much his ticket is worth before he goes in to cash it they should not be buying lottery ticket..These clerks are just stupid because this has been tried before..They will never get away with it..Glad the lottery does this and no it's not rigged!!..

Comment #2

dr65 — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:42:35 GMT

I don't have a problem with a lottery official possessing a rigged ticket to set up a thief. I have a problem with the trust that is automatically

assumed when handing a ticket over to the person standing behind the machine. That trust has been violated many, many times...examples

reported here with larger amounts yet, remember?

Imagine the countless times where something like this wasn't reported because the prizes were much less. How easy to say the ticket is not a

winner and pocke... [ More ]

Comment #1

lotteryprophet — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 11:31:58 GMT

This story is disturbing from every angle.

While I am glad the Lottery is trying to ensure customers are not deceioved and that stores are held accountable for stealing from customers I am disturbed at this particular sting.

A speciallty designed winning ticket ? WTF is that?

If the Lottery can fake a winning ticket, let it show up on a machine as a winner, why should't I believe the whole darned thing is rigged? Wake up folks.

This needs an independent investigation.

Clerk arrested in undercover Lottery sting

Lottery Post — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 11:22:01 GMT

Investigator was paid $50 for ticket worth $20,000

An employee of the City Limits Deli Mart in Sumner and her companion got an unpleasant surprise Monday when they traveled to Washington's Lottery headquarters to claim what they thought was a $20,000 prize.

Olympia police arrested the two women for allegedly trying to claim the prize through fraud or deception, according to a Lottery spokeswoman.

The alleged fraud occurred Thursday, when an undercover Lottery employee posing as a custom... [ More ]