Monday, August 13, 2007

Beware of Unscrupulous Lottery Agents

I was talking to my father-in-law this past weekend about Powerball. He lives in Pennsylvania and hopes to win the $181 million jackpot. He has a few favorite numbers, and believes that his Powerball number 35 is due to win again.

As we were dreaming, he told me that he hit the Powerball a few times, but said that it was only worth $1. I told him the prize was $3, but he insisted that it was $1. Before I printed out the prize sheet for him, he asked what the payout was for getting 3 numbers correct. I told him it was $7. He said that he was paid only $2. At this point, my mother-in-law jumped in, saying I was wrong, because she had redeemed winning tickets as well.

He has always looked in the newspaper to see if he won, but didn't know what the payouts were. When he won, he would go to 1 of 2 different lottery vendors and give them the ticket. They would print out a receipt, and put it in a drawer. When he had the Powerball, they gave him $1 and pocketed $2. When he had 3 numbers, they gave him $2, and kept the other $5.

We find it hard to believe that the individual stores would behind this unscrupulous scheme, and think that it is the clerks who operate the machines.

Regardless, when they see someone who is almost 80 years old, they apparently think they can get pull something over on these old folks.

Since jackpots are so high right now, ticket sales are booming. Please take caution when redeeming your lottery tickets and make sure you are getting the full prize that you won. Ask for the receipts and don't take no for an answer. While $2 and $5 don't seem like much, someone is stealing a lot of money. Don't be taken advantage of!


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Note: Based on the results of our Poll , we decided to recommend all Power & Mega balls in every drawing after Octorber 22, 2007. This change will make these lotteries consistent with the International and other "mega" ball based lotteries.
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