I love this story, because the crooks are nabbed, and people get educated about checking their tickets.

What do you think of my new "SCAM" graphic?

"Winners never cheat and cheaters never win!" When will people learn?

The domino effect:

felony charges, and if you own the store:

1.  You lose your lottery license

2. You might lose any liquor license you have....

3.  You'll definitley lose most of your customer base....

Was that really worth it?  Some people just don't see it!

P.S. Nice "SCAM" graphic Todd

The odds already agaisnt players, and come to find this...>_<

I agree. I also love this story because the crooks are caught.  Good job by the undercover investigators & they deserve a reward themselves, because they  may have prevented other people from getting ripped off by these criminals in the future.

I'm all about busting some bad guys, especially lottery ticket thieves...

...but doesn't this ring of 'entrapment'?  Isn't entrapment when a police officer entices someone to commit a crime that otherwise would have been unlikely?  Of course, maybe they are assuming that this was as likely a case as any other?

Also, I'm curious as to how they can charge someone with 'grand larceny' just because something *appeared* to be worth a lot of money (the fake $1000 lottery tickets they used).

So, if I have a fake gold watch on, with fake diamonds, that's worth all of $30 and someone steals it from me thinking it's real... they can be charged with 'grand larceny'?

That doesn't sound right.

But, overall, I'm glad these guys got busted and I hope this gets blown up.  The lottery is enough of a robbery as it is, without crooks actually sealing the deal. 

Very nice graphic!!!

Perhaps there had been reports to law enforcement of winning tickets having been kept which is why they sent them in to get "proof."

Think the "worthless ticket" was a real $1000 winner that an undercover officer was told by a dishonest clerk that it was not a winner.

Shame on them for cheating customers, but they'll probably have a long time to think about their actions.

I don't think its entrapment, they went in and tried to cash a lottery ticket...The clerk said it's not a winner.  Now either the clerk can't tell the difference or he knows its a winner and tells him its not worth anything.  Grand Larcency comes in when the clerk himself puts in a claim for the $1,000.00 at the lottery commision. 

If nobody puts in a claim for the $1,000 ticket than a mistake has been made.  no harm no foul....

What do you think of my new "SCAM" graphic - Nice Todd!  Draws attention to what you should be looking out for.

As for getting paid in Pennsylvania its easy they print out a paid ticket and the money at the same time.  Or they will give you a 'no winner'. 

The ONLY thing that I'm getting upset with some of the lottery retailers is not being paid in cash but with a money orders or check.  I didn't play with either and take offense that they do that.  I will not cash my ticket at those places and do not return to play again.   I can see that they do not want to keep large amount of cash on hand in some places, but they could ask you to come back the next day and get it, but they won't even do that. 

IF anyone that has their tickets checked by a clerk they should ask for the ticket BACK and not let them keep it - its YOURS get it back.  That will shrink fraud.

Goody, goody, goody they got busted.  Hopely it is spread all of the news so that others are warned and people will start signing their tickets, asking for their tickets back, or just checking their own numbers. 

I hope the crooks get a lot of jail time, have to pay a lot of money (much much more than they stole) on top of losing creditablity, lottery license and liquor license.   Actually they should not be allowed to be in business.

That will show them not to prey on the ignorance of others.

Check your numbers and deal with someone you trust..It's so easy..

This should also be warning for retailers to only steel from customers they know other wise they could be dealing with the law.

I love it when crooks get hauled away in handcuffs and paddy wagons.

Nice graphic,Todd.

I went to one retailer and they tried to give me less on my winnings, and then he said honest mistake, i never go back there to claim tickets at all..maybe i should report them............but that taught me to ask for a claim reciept on all my tickets, i trust no one

I am willing to bet it is the tip of the iceberg - maybe even something smaller than the tip!

I would love to have that job running the sting. 

Nice scam Graphic.

Good thing they get the crooks. But I can't people are so stupid they're not able to check their own tickets for prizes.

In Florida, we have a screen that faces us and if it's a winner it automatically prints out a ticket.  I stay aware.

Todd......Nice graphic BUT I would add the word "Warning"or "Alert" in red under Scam so it is never mis-understood any other way.  As it reads now it says Lottery Post Scam, not your intention I am sure.

Yes, I feel it needs "something" there too. 

Cool graphic, Todd.

Yes, it's nice when the bad guys get caught.

State and multi-state lotteries should allow players to set up direct accounts to play their favorite games like they do in the UK (https://www.national-lottery.co.uk/player/registration.do); that way you cut out corrupt middlemen. Reasonable terms and conditions can always apply to prevent gambling addicts from going overboard.

Seems like once every other month we get a story like this on the CA Lottery website, I've always enjoyed them, but it kind of shocks me that EVERY time they do this sting, they are busting multiple people for these crimes.

If I have a winner, I check the CA lottery website see its value, sign my ticket, and prior to handing the ticket to the clerk, I ask them if they can cash my ticket for its winning value. Some places won't cash tickets for $400 or $500 dollars because they don't have the cash on hand.

 Todd, I find the scam graphic a little confusing, the only thing clueing me into a scam is the word scam is on the graphic. I mean no harm, but just want to offer my honest critique, cheers

I know when they run promo games at certain times I have heard the lotto machines play music to let you know you won a bonus ticket. Why don't every state adopt this as a normal routine to winning tickets of all sizes. That way, even if the owner of the ticket can not see the screen they can still hear the music or a computer voice saying "You're a winner" . It should not be that hard to make the whole machine shut down if the music or voice mechanism is tampered with or shut off. I would think this could be another deterrent for the would-be thieves.

Also, it could actually increase sales if someone walking by heard a lottery machine say "You're a winner!" while a ticket is being checked.

It's a win-win situation.

This whole thing I bet has been going on for years and it's really a case of "who's the a8Shole".

Call me one,but i'm a firm believer that people shouldn't be playing any games when they don't know the prizes for their desired games.Of course the store owners should be hung,but it seems a 2 way street.I'm glad they got caught.

I know in connecticut they recently adopted satellites to transmit numbers etc to the terminals and also the screen is facing the customer so when you win ,you see it.I've deeply sensed there was alot of silent fraud going on as well... as it is prolly cheaper to do things this way then to constantly repair wire issues somewhere

Lord knows I've seen my share of rickety folks walk in and asked if their ticket was a winner and I thought to myself"why don't they just have someone in the family check it or a trusted loved one

They deserve everthing they are going to get and more!!!

there was one store that I was suspicious of and I never won a thing there(bad vibes everytime I walked in). I switched stores and my luck changed.started winning scratch offs and then I found lottery post and started hitting pick 3 and pick 4.

and now two months ago the store burned down(what goes around,comes around).

I agree. I sometimes wonder if someone hasn't found a way to "see through" the scratch-off ticket using some type of ultra violet or other light. The music thing is definitely a MUST for all machine just like in the Slot Machines.

That was good feedback, thanks, I agree.  I have changed the graphic (you might have to refresh the page to see it. - Ctrl+F5).

Good work by the cops.Even when you check your tickits yourself ,then bring to the store ,you still have to be careful.

     Nice work Todd

Graphic looks great with the change!

I like the graphic change Todd. It really looks good.

Thanks for posting the story Todd.  I never bought tickets from that store in the video but it's close to my house and I do business next door to it.  I always check my tickets myself first in the little machine in the stores for that purpose. I guess some ppl are in a hurry or don't realize the gizmo is there or they are just too trusting.

Now I'm wondering where in town all the other stores are that got busted.  They said over a dozen stores. Will check the CA Lotto website to see which stores.

Now to get my town on LP for a better story . . .like ... my big win!!!

The SCAM Alert icon is a great idea!

Its so nice to hear of store clerks scamming their customers who actually pay for services and goods at their store. Glad to see the Police are at large to get rid of the bad guys from those who are honest citizens. This 'capturing process' should be done all the time to keep these criminally minded people in their place and out of society.

Our 2 countries have absolutely everything and anything our hearts desire, from food, family, friends, work and much much more in the way of freedoms than most on this planet, and yet there are those who still will take advantage of THEIR situation against you. Not that anyone is unsuspecting, its plain old honesty and repect I'm talking about, and that seems to have vanished from society at large.

The rope continues to get tighter around the neck everytime these creeps make a play on the public and try to get away with it. The Police are our friends.

yt

dx123

nice Graphic Todd>>>can you make it flash on and off with some bright colors? Just asking.

No I don't think any lawyer would believe this is entrapment on the part of the undercover law enforcement officials...seemingly the only thing they did was present tickets to be checked that appeared to be actual winners.  It was the store clerks that decided to say they were non-winners and keep them and then the store clerks or the store management attempted to claim the winnings themselves.  I don't see the entrapment in that at all.  Whether the tickets were real or bogus shouldn't matter either...for example, the guys that got hemmed up by that Dateline sting on online sex predators definitely were charged with real crimes even though the premise was bogus (the people the "sex criminal" were writing to online and meeting were not underage teenage boys or girls, but adults working for Perverted Justice and an adult actress). 

It is unfortunate that the people who would be most likely to trust the clerks to check the tickets for them are the same people who may not have access to the lottery's website information via the internet, like homeless people or those who just simply don't have home PCs with internet access.  I only present a winning ticket to a clerk AFTER I already know that it is a winner and for how much.  That way, I know I can't get scammed.  If it is a small dollar winner, I may not always sign the back of it, but if it was a winner that would require me to go to the lottery office, then I wouldn't even take it back to a store to be validated...I would just head to the lottery office.  I hope these perpetrators get hammered because stealing is just wrong.  Heck even though I have bills, if I saw someone drop say a envelope and I happened to be walking behind them and picked it up and discovered that the envelope contained a several thousand dollars, I would call out to that person and catch up with them and hand the envelope right back to them.  And I wouldn't expect them to give me anything for doing the right thing in returning it to them, because that is just the right thing to do.

Oh, this is a great idea!  I wish they would do it here.  Simply brilliant.  I wouldn't have to put up with snide clerks or the ones who know absolutely nothing about the games.

Lock them up!

Lock them up!

Lock them up!

oh yeah one more thing.

Lock them up!

This happens alot at the laundryroom

it is not entrapment, entrapment would be if the police gives you drugs and then another police arrests you.

What happened in this article is truly illegal and bad. 

I am always keeping my losing tickets, but when the clerk says I won a dollar or two I do wonder, what if it really won $25 or more?

(By the way, I meant to vote all stars for this article, but I messed up and clicked the middle, I thought after clicking then I would be on the rating screen to vote, but instead it took the rating vote immediately.  Sorry, if I can change it let me know)

"I am always keeping my losingtickets, but when the clerk says I won a dollar or two I do wonder,what if it really won $25 or more?"

Check your tickets online before taking them to the store. It's easy to avoid being ripped off if you know how much you won before turning your tickets in.

definitely, thanks scarychick,  I will.

You're welcome. I just can't put my trust in the cashier. There have been too many stories of people handing their tickets to the cashier and them lying about the amount that they've won. It's just better to know what you won at the start, so you don't get ripped off. I'm not saying all cashiers are bad, because they're not, but you don't know who would be willing to rip you off.

"it is not entrapment, entrapment would be if the police gives you drugs and then another police arrests you."

It's very definitely not entrapment.  Entrapment is when law enforcement personnel or their agents persuade you to commit a crime when you had no intent to do so.  Simply giving you enough rope to hang yourself isn't entrapment. That's why cops can do a "buy and bust" or set up a bait car to catch car thieves.

According to the information presented in the article  the cops  in this case did exactly what  any other customer might have done. They handed over what appeared to be a winning ticket, and the clerks (alledgedly, of course) made the choice completely by themselves to lie about how much money the ticket was worth.

I'm glad these people got caught and hopefully will suffer consequences for their crimes.

However, it should also send a clear message to players to check their own tickets either online or by phone.  The Louisiana lottery has both options so I use one or the other to check my tickets.  Signing your tickets would also deter others from trying to steal your winnings.

ahahahahhaaaaa... BU$TED!

As the manager of a gas station that sells lottery tickets -- I would offer the following simple advice -- always ask for your tickets back. That way, if you think someone is trying to "scam" you, you can take it somewhere else to get it double checked.

Its policy where i work, that we hand back all non-winning tickets, and as far as im aware, we have never had issues with employee "theft" so to put it.

I recently bought a scratch-off in PA and thought I won $500. I went to two stores to have them check but because the people were either idiots or the machine to check the ticket was out of my eyesight, I took my ticket back and left.

I actually had to go to the PA lottery website to see if I had won because the directions were unclear. It said if there were two "$", then I won that amount. Well, I did have two $'s, but with an amount written between them (like "$40$"). On the website, I saw that it was supposed to be just the symbols and no amount with it. It was really confusing, and I've been playing for years. So I can understand why people get confused.

PA used to have on the scratch-offs the amount you actually won in the code, so you could just scratch off where the code was to see if you won without doing the whole ticket. However, I'm not sure they do that anymore. I now live in NC and they don't do it here. Too bad, it made it really easier to know if you had actually won.

I like how CA has the machines to check your tickets yourself. That would be awesome! I've never seen them here on the east coast.