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The USA's 'luckiest' lottery players may not be as lucky as they seemNews Story
On, Dec. 29, 2016, Clarance Jones did something that most Americans could scarcely imagine: He cashed-in 20 winning scratch-off tickets, collectively worth $21,000, one after the other. For the average lottery player, that would be the ultimate payday. For Jones, it was practically routine. In the past six years, the 79-year-old from Lynn, Mass., has won more than 7,300 lottery tickets, totaling $10.8 million. That establishes him, by far, as the luckiest lottery player in America. But
Sep 19, 2017, 8:49 am - Lottery News

Massachusetts has more repeat lottery winners than any other stateNews Story
Over the last six years, four members of the Jaafar family of Watertown have cashed in more than 7,000 winning lottery tickets and collected a cool $11 million. Statistics suggest it's nearly impossible to win the lottery that frequently. But Massachusetts has more repeat lottery winners than any other state, people who redeem so many winning tickets that they raise questions about the integrity and oversight of the $5 billion state lottery, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis of nearly
Aug 3, 2017, 7:01 pm - Lottery News

Lottery winner's cyanide poisoning death remains unsolved five years laterNews Story
Urooj Khan couldn't believe his luck in spring 2012 when he scratched off a second lottery ticket at a 7-Eleven near his home on Chicago's Far North Side and realized he had won $1 million. When he accepted an oversized promotional check from Illinois Lottery representatives with his wife and teenage daughter at his side, he spoke of how his winnings would help him grow his dry-cleaning business. But weeks later, before he had collected the actual winnings, Khan died unexpectedly at 46.
Jul 25, 2017, 8:21 am - Lottery News

Iowa Lottery promises to work harder to stop cheatersNews Story
Iowa Lottery officials pledged Tuesday to tighten security of lottery tickets and bolster efforts to obtain restitution from persons convicted of lottery-related crimes. The officials detailed their plans at a meeting of the Iowa Lottery Board in Clive, where they responded to allegations that security problems persist in the state-run lottery because of a failure to fix weaknesses spotted years earlier. A recent investigation detailed cases of Iowa retail employees stealing lottery ticke
Jun 28, 2017, 8:26 am - Lottery News

Network of dummy online stores used to hide internet gambling paymentsNews Story
A network of dummy online stores offering household goods has been used as a front for internet gambling payments, according to a recent investigation. The seven sites, operated out of Europe, purport to sell items including fabric, DVD cases, maps, gift wrap, mechanical tape, pin badges and flags. In fact, they are fake outlets, part of a multinational system to disguise payments for the $40 billion global online gambling industry, which is illegal in many countries and some U.S. states.
Jun 26, 2017, 6:55 am - Lottery News

Iowa Lottery investigation highlights difficult balance between security and profitsNews Story
For more than a year while he worked at the Brick Street Market in Bondurant, Iowa, Matthew Hinrichs quietly stole lottery tickets, cashing in at least $28,000 in illegitimate prize money, prosecutors say. When he was finally caught in 2016, Hinrichs pleaded guilty to two felony counts of fraud and was ordered to pay back those winnings, plus nearly $5,000 more. Lottery officials say their layers of security allowed them to track Hinrichs' activity, providing data that was invaluable to pr
Jun 6, 2017, 2:48 pm - Lottery News

CT Lottery ignored warnings that game was vulnerable to fraud, investigation findsNews Story
Connecticut Lottery officials knew in January of 2015 that there was a way for retailers to illegally access the numbers of the 5 Card Cash game on their computer screens and manipulate tickets but waited 10 months to notify the Department of Consumer Protection that fraud was occurring. At a legislative hearing Tuesday morning Connecticut Lottery Corp.'s chairman and acting president, Frank Farricker, acknowledged that lottery officials put revenues over security issues concerning the game,
May 2, 2017, 4:38 pm - Lottery News

Lawsuit accuses Illinois Lottery manager of fraud in instant gamesNews Story
Three lottery players and a downstate bar have accused the Illinois Lottery's private manager of defrauding scratch-off players and retailers after an investigation found the lottery did not award many of the biggest prizes in its biggest instant games. In a lawsuit filed Monday in St. Clair County, the plaintiffs cited a December article in the Tribune that examined the lottery's practices in the years after the state handed over its management to a private firm, Northstar Lottery Group.
Feb 8, 2017, 9:43 am - Lottery News

Illinois lawmakers call for investigation into lotteryNews Story
State lawmakers from both political parties are calling for an investigation of how the Illinois Lottery managed scratch-off games in response to a report showing the lottery didn't award many of the biggest prizes in the biggest games. I just don't think we should promise people things we don't deliver, said state Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie. And if we say we have a game that's going to pay X and it doesn't pay X, then we've lied to the people who bought the tickets. Lang was joined by stat
Dec 13, 2016, 8:24 am - Lottery News

Investigation: Illinois Lottery didn't award 40% of scratch-off grand prizesNews Story
It was called The Good Life and offered the biggest grand prize of any instant game the Illinois Lottery had ever produced. Two lucky winners could scratch their way to $46 million each, paid in periodic installments. At $30, tickets weren't cheap, but millions were sold. Then the game ended before the lottery sold most of the tickets that were printed, with neither top prize awarded. The same thing happened with another instant game, called Birthday Surprise. Two large grand prizes offere
Dec 9, 2016, 1:50 pm - Lottery News