Judge rules Massachusetts Lottery can suspend high-frequency winners

Comment #21

Stack47 — Sat, 09 Nov 2019 02:18:43 GMT

Really doubt any lottery would suspend a player for playing and winning with multiple tickets. And besides it didn't happen in your state so the person you know should have no problem cashing their tickets.

the Massachusetts Lottery suspended the Jaafars' ability to cash tickets for 90 days.

The story doesn't say if others where suspended and the ruling was just on their suspension. No lottery wants to the courts to change their rules and neither does the NCAA.

Comment #20

Big Joey — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 17:40:06 GMT

What about the person who plays the same number straight on a Pick 4 form, and has the form validated 4 times for $20.00?

That's 20 $5,000 wins for $100,000.00 I know of a person who does only that nightly, and does that all the time.

If he wins, he will win $100,000.00 each time.

Comment #19

sweetie7398 — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 08:27:10 GMT

Wow

Comment #18

Stack47 — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 05:55:08 GMT

Unopened rolls of scratch-offs are scanned and activated before selling in KY too. Don't know if a thief could cash tickets from the open and scanned rolls, presumably in another store or a kiosk.

If I put $20 into a kiosk machine, I must spend the entire $20. Not even a voucher so I must ask the clerk for change if I only have $20s. Maybe the reason is to prevent cashing stolen tickets at a kiosk

Comment #17

Stack47 — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 05:28:16 GMT

A straight pick-4 is usually $1000.

A 50 cent straight pays $2500 in most states.

If you won, say 50 times, and they see all from the same few stores where you live, then it is unlikely you were being banned.

It doesn't matter if you cash 1 pick-4 straight ticket or 50, you'll still have to fill out a claims form and get a W-2G. And it doesn't matter if you bought all the tickets in one store or several. Can't say how it's done in every state, but in Ohio if you have five or more $1... [ More ]

Comment #16

noise-gate — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 05:24:00 GMT

Slightly off topic, but concerning scratchers: lt would appear, at least in this neck of the woods that breaking into a convenient store stealing rolls upon rolls of scratchers is USELESS. Spoke to a store owner yesterday he said that every scratcher has to be scanned on site : to activate- before handing the ticket over to the customer- no on property scan, ticket is garbage. It reminded me of that one thief awhile ago, caught on cameras bagging rolls of the stuff. I can't recall the State this... [ More ]

Comment #15

cottoneyedjoe — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 02:59:17 GMT

LOL. It's curious to me that some states require a SSN to claim and some don't. My state, CA, doesn't require it. Illegals looooove scratchers. CALottery will not alienate their most loyal customers.

I don't know how long it takes to get your prize check in MA, but in CA it's often 8 weeks. If MA is that bad, maybe a lot of the resellers are just poor working folks who need money now.

Comment #14

SixSages — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 01:13:10 GMT

They probably cashing in for those who owe child support arrears or microscratching as someone else already mentioned. A foreign alien can cash in their ticket but they will be subject to higher Federal withdrawal amount from the State. The lottery will find out where and what retailers had those tickets that they're cashing in.

Comment #13

grwurston — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 00:26:53 GMT

The lottery director said ANYONE winning more then 20 times a year. If someone hits for $5,000 straight in the Pick 4 twenty times a year, they may very well consider that statistically improbable given the 1-10,000 odds.

This guy may not be buying the tickets himself at all those retailers but some how he is acquiring them. Perhaps he and his accomplices are buying up entire rolls of tickets. It seems rather unlikely to me that so many people from all over the state are coming to him to cas... [ More ]

Comment #12

Sarge0202 — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 22:09:35 GMT

Yes, if a guy is filing a claim (only for 600$+) of hundreds of tickets from hundreds of locations, he did not buy the ticket originally.

The article is about 600$+ winners that have to file a claim, including back-tax check, child support check, etc. A straight pick-4 is usually $1000. If you had a legit system you would only get then from a couple locations near home/work. If you won, say 50 times, and they see all from the same few stores where you live, then it is unlikely you were being

Comment #11

Stack47 — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 19:15:22 GMT

The lottery director can determine it is factually improbable for a person to win hundreds of scratcher, pick2/3, MB/PB from 500 different shops in 100 different towns.

But according to the article the lottery director already determined they were buying the tickets (probably at a reduced cost) from people that actually purchased the tickets.

If a person has a legit system of winning pick 4, would they be doing it at 500 different shops in 100 different towns, possibly at different time... [ More ]

Comment #10

Stack47 — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 18:43:29 GMT

The Lottery says Ali Jaafar and his two sons are what they call high-frequency winners people believed to be cashing tickets actually bought by others.

If it's illegal to cash tickets they didn't purchase, case closed. But it's obvious it was legal because the state lottery allowed them to cash those type of tickets in the past. I'd ask what is so difficult about making a rule that only the person purchasing the ticket can cash it, but won't because of the ramifications to winners of pools an... [ More ]

Comment #9

TheGameGrl — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 16:50:36 GMT

Unfortunately the ruling does not specify that underlying reasoning. So yes any person can be halted. That's where the problem with this ruling reigns.

Comment #8

TheMeatman2005 — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 14:13:24 GMT

Don't get your panties all in a bunch people! This is to prevent people from cashing in tickets purchased by others, that for some reason can't cash the winning tickets themselves.

This is to stop illegal deals, not the legitimate player that buys a ticket and cashes it themself.

Most of the time, a winner will have purchased their tickets in the same town where they work or live, NOT all over the state or in 30 different locations.

There are ways to tell where and when the tickets we... [ More ]

Comment #7

reddog — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 13:33:54 GMT

North Carolina needs to do the same thing!! Got all these illegals running around here needing to find a buddy who has a social security card to claim their winnings. I have seen it happen when I was at NC Lottery Raleigh office earlier this year and the guy and his wife neither one had a social security card or green card. That guy must have made like ten calls on his cell phone before they finally gave up and left.

Comment #6

Sarge0202 — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 12:43:53 GMT

The lottery director can determine it is factually improbable for a person to win hundreds of scratcher, pick2/3, MB/PB from 500 different shops in 100 different towns. I remember reading an investigation (maybe NY) where a guy claimed 2 tickets sold minutes apart in 2 different towns and you need to take a ferry ride go get there.

If a person has a legit system of winning pick 4, would they be doing it at 500 different shops in 100 different towns, possibly at different times of day and... [ More ]

Comment #5

NY10 — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 06:48:11 GMT

These lottery officials wants to steal peoples winning

If they do these type of things and people can t win or get prizes no one will play they need to remember this...People will not play if they don t win

Comment #4

noise-gate — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 03:03:38 GMT

Come on, let us be honest- would you continue to pay-out to this guy? l don't think so.

Comment #3

FlaEmeraldGirl — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 02:52:32 GMT

If I am not mistaken, the Jaafars were cashing scratch offs, and those are the type tickets that have received the most scrutiny.

Scratch off packs can be microscratched and the winning tickets sorted out from the losers. The Jaafars could buy thousands of scratch tickets, microscratch them, have an accomplice scan them to check for winners (or just go to a self serve are you a winner scanner), and sell the losing tickets to others. The Jaafars may not be showing up on cameras buying the tick... [ More ]

Comment #2

music* — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 02:33:35 GMT

There must be quite a few winners who want to skip out on their responsibilities. Child Support. Judgement liens. Debt.

Comment #1

grwurston — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 01:29:03 GMT

I clicked on the continuing to work link in the story. This is what it said.

Announced last year, the policy went into effect, after a delay, on July 27. It allows lottery officials to investigate and ultimately penalize anyone who wins 20 or more lottery prizes valued at $1,000 or more within a calendar year. If the lottery director determines a person's lucky streak is factually or statistically improbable, the new policy allows the lottery to freeze the player's payouts for months.

So i... [ More ]

Judge rules Massachusetts Lottery can suspend high-frequency winners

Lottery Post — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 22:54:11 GMT

The Massachusetts Lottery last week won a court fight over their efforts to fight suspected fraud.

The judge's decision lets the Lottery suspend a family of players who have cashed thousands of winning tickets.

The Lottery says Ali Jaafar and his two sons are what they call high-frequency winners people believed to be cashing tickets actually bought by others. The Lottery has long suspected that high-frequency winners are part of money laundering schemes.

(See Some lottery winning strea... [ More ]