Prizes All Paid In Iowa Security Checks

After seeing problems crop up with lottery-ticket redemption in areas outside Iowa, we recently decided to run some unannounced security checks at retail locations across the state to see how winning tickets would be handled. We are happy to report that all prizes were properly paid by store personnel during the stops we made around the state.

Cases involving retailer fraud at some of the lotteries in Canada were revealed over the past few years. And this year in California, more than two dozen people working at retail outlets have been arrested for the grand theft of winning lottery tickets. All of the California suspects are accused of cheating lottery customers.

So, in late February, lottery security investigators posing as customers visited 126 Iowa retail locations that we selected at random. The outlets were in 76 communities in 54 counties and included urban and rural locations. We also went to a mix of the different types of businesses that sell lottery tickets. During the stops, our investigators presented 128 lottery tickets for cashing that each had won a prize of up to $100. As I said before, in every instance, the location paid the correct amount.

We’re glad to see those results. There have been problems involving lottery-ticket redemption outside Iowa, and we thought it was important to double-check what’s going on here. It appears we’ve got a smooth-running system in our state, but each of us – whether we’re a lottery employee, retailer, player or member of the public – has to stay on the look-out if we’re going to protect ourselves against fraud.

The Iowa Lottery will continue doing these random checks of the ticket-cashing process. We consider it part of our duty to protect consumers as well as the integrity of the Iowa Lottery.

You can help by contacting us if you ever have a concern about the lottery, its products or operations. Our main number is 515-725-7900 and our e-mail is Wmaster@ialottery.com. If you have a security-related concern, please call our Security Department directly at 515-725-7888.