ialottery blog

Scam Alert: Uptick In Lottery Scams Being Reported

Investigators are warning of a current increase in lottery-related scams, with many of the calls apparently originating out of Jamaica.

Scam operations unfortunately are a common part of our world today, and some of them drag lotteries’ names and products into the mix. This latest wave of scams apparently promises that you’ve won a prize in the so-called Mega Millions Sweepstakes. Sometimes people are told they’ve won a jackpot, other times it’s a new luxury vehicle. There is no Mega Millions Sweepstakes, by the way. Mega Millions® is lotto game with drawings twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays, but there is no sweepstakes associated with it.

We’ve warned about lottery-related scams for years, noting that they’ve involved many different forms: letters, telephone calls, emails, text messages, and social media contacts. In the current phone calls, those contacted say the caller has a definite Caribbean accent. And the scammers want those contacted to pay a “processing fee” up front to receive their promised winnings.

It’s a scam. And anyone who sends money to the scammers will never see those funds again, nor will they ever receive the promised winnings.

Please keep these details in mind if you’re ever contacted about winning a lottery prize:

• If someone says that you've won a big prize, stop and ask yourself this question: Did I buy a ticket or enter that contest? If you didn't, it's likely a scam.
• Never pay processing fees, insurance or commissions to claim a lottery prize. Legitimate lotteries do not require winners to pay anything up front to receive a prize.
• Never believe a letter, phone call or Internet message from someone who claims they can guarantee you a prize. Legitimate lotteries do not guarantee that you will win and do not require you to join a prize pool to play.
• And remember that in here in our state, the Iowa Lottery is the only lottery authorized under state law. 

The Attorney General’s Office advises you to report suspected scam calls to the FCC Consumer Complaint Center. The AG also says to consider using call-blocking apps and other services to reduce the number of robocalls you receive.

And please remember that while the current scam-related telephone calls are getting attention, there are likely other types of scams underway. The best thing you can do is to be vigilant and protect yourself.

Sales Suspended In An InstaPlay Game After Vendor Glitch

A vendor system glitch has led to sales being suspended in one of our InstaPlay games.

Our initial review shows that the error caused 28 duplicate plays to be sold to players during a 25-minute span this morning in the Cherry Twist Progressive InstaPlay game.

Iowa Lottery CEO Matt Strawn summed up our response really well today.

“The number of players impacted and the tickets involved in this situation may be modest, but you simply cannot put a price on doing the right thing,” he said. “The right thing today was to suspend sales of the game in question and have our team work to fix the issue. Maintaining the integrity of Iowa Lottery products and giving every player a fair chance to win every time must be job one.”

The Cherry Twist Progressive InstaPlay game appears to be the only Iowa Lottery product impacted. Sales in that game were suspended about 9:30 a.m. today, and remain suspended at this time. Lottery records show that of the 28 duplicate plays sold in the game, 8 indicated winnings totaling $23.   

The $2 Cherry Twist Progressive InstaPlay game has been sold in Iowa since November 2016. Its top prize is called progressive because it starts at $2,000 and increases with each ticket sold statewide until it is won.

Shortly after 9 a.m. today, the lottery and the vendor for its statewide gaming system noticed that sales in the Cherry Twist Progressive InstaPlay game appeared to have reset to a point several hours earlier as an apparent result of a system and equipment reset that the vendor performed this morning. The glitch caused duplicate plays to be issued in that game. Once the issue was identified, sales in the game were immediately suspended. A total of 28 duplicate plays in the game were sold to lottery players from about 9:05 a.m. until 9:29 a.m. Sunday.

Any players with questions should contact Iowa Lottery Security directly at 515-725-7900 or Wmaster@ialottery.com. And if you think you have one of the tickets involved in the Cherry Twist Progressive InstaPlay game, please take that ticket to one of our regional offices or mail it to us at: Iowa Lottery, 13001 University Ave., Clive, Iowa 50325-8225.

Player Mail: Why Is There A Sales Cut-Off Before A Drawing?

One of our players contacted us about the sales cut-off times before the drawings in our lotto games like Powerball and Mega Millions, and wondered why they couldn’t be eliminated. The man said he wants people to be able to buy tickets right up until one minute before the drawing. The short answer is that wouldn’t work from a security perspective. Here’s the back story:

 

Sales cut-off times are just one of the security features in our games. They’re one of the processes that lotteries use to help ensure that everything is ready to go. With millions – and sometimes billions – of dollars involved in our drawings, it’s obviously important that mistakes be avoided!  

 

Before one of our drawings can be held, all of the lotteries in that game have to verify that their sales figures balance and that all plays are recorded in the system. It’s a meticulous process, and we know it’s what the public expects from us.

 

The good news is that as computer speeds and technology have improved through the years, it now requires much less time to accomplish that work before the drawing. Today, our sales cut-off times are an hour or less before our lotto-game drawings. Years ago, the sales cut-off time was often two hours before the drawing, but we’ve been able to reduce that and we hope it’s a convenience for our players and retailers.

 

I would imagine there will always be some time required for balancing and verification before a drawing can happen, but maybe in the future, the time involved will be even shorter than it is now.

 

The exact sales cut-off times vary from state to state, depending upon the requirements in that particular state. Check your state lottery’s website for the information that applies in your area.

 

We’ll keep doing our best to keep the sales cut-off period involved here in Iowa as short as possible.

I Lost My Ticket! What Can I Do?

A player from northeast Iowa emailed us with a question that made us so sad about the lottery ticket she’d bought, because there was no way for us to help her. The same thing could happen to you, so please learn from her situation.

The woman said she bought a scratch ticket at a convenience store in Waterloo on her way to work. She didn’t play it right away, and continued on her way. When she arrived at work, she noticed that her purse must have fallen open at some point, and her ticket was gone.

The woman said she went back to look for the ticket, but she never found it. Because she didn’t know whether it had won a prize, she wondered if by letting us know that she had lost it, she could somehow have a claim to any prize if someone else later claimed it.

The woman said she hadn’t signed her ticket when she bought it, and that’s a key point. A lottery ticket without a signature on it is like a blank check. In legal terms, it’s what is known as a bearer instrument, meaning that the person bearing it is considered the owner.

That is why we urge our players to sign the back of their tickets as soon as they buy them. When you sign your ticket, you identify it – and any prize you may win – as belonging to you. It may seem like something that doesn’t matter, but this woman’s story unfortunately illustrates why it’s so important.

 

Help! My Ticket Got Ruined! Can It Still Be Cashed?

An email just came our way from a lottery player whose ticket had somehow gotten damaged, and the person wanted to know if we could still check it to see if it was a winner.  We asked the player to send the ticket to us here at lottery headquarters so we can see if it can still be scanned.

I emphasize the “IF” part of that statement, because in some cases, it may not be possible for us to determine the outcome of a ticket. If it’s ruined/damaged to the point that key information on the ticket is no longer clear, we won’t be able to check the ticket to determine its status.

Here are a couple examples we’ve seen through the years. In one instance, we were able to validate the ticket involved, but in the other, there wasn’t enough information left to go on.

Back in 2015, we got a very funny inquiry from a Waterloo woman who sent us an adorable picture of her dog along with the remains of a scratch ticket that the dog had chewed up. The woman was able to find most of the mangled pieces of the ticket and taped them back together before sending it to us. (That’s the picture you see here.) In that instance, our security team was able to find enough information on the ticket to determine that she had indeed won a $5 prize.

And then in 2016, a player emailed us to say that in the process of trying to steam open a greeting card, she put the card and the lotto tickets it contained in the microwave. When she took the card out, the lottery tickets inside had turned completely black.

That’s because tickets in our lotto games are printed on thermal paper. Heat is used to print the numbers and logos on the front of the ticket. And if you apply heat to an entire ticket, the whole surface will turn black.

In that instance, we unfortunately weren’t able to read anything on the tickets involved to determine if any of them had won a prize.

So, if your lottery ticket ends up getting damaged and you have questions about the prize it may have won, we’ll do our best to help figure that out. Just know that in some instances, that may not be possible.

Iowa Lottery Wins International Gaming-Compliance Award For Work In Investigation

The Iowa Lottery has won an international gaming-compliance award for its work in the long-running lottery jackpot investigation that uncovered fraud against U.S. lotteries and resulted in confessions and guilty pleas from three men.

Yesterday, GamblingCompliance named the Iowa Lottery its 2018 recipient for outstanding achievement in compliance. The organization’s annual awards that recognize excellence in 11 categories were presented in London. The lottery was one of five worldwide finalists for the gaming-compliance award.

We’re enormously proud of the work we put in and the perseverance investigators showed through the years in bringing the long-running case to a successful conclusion. We believed the case was a crucial opportunity for our lottery to pinpoint security enhancements and new technologies we could bring to our operations. I’m confident in the integrity of our games, and if anything, we’re even more aware today that we have to aggressively monitor and “trust but verify” in all areas of our operations if we’re going to stay ahead of those who would try to commit crimes.

GamblingCompliance is headquartered in London and has its U.S. hub in Washington, D.C. It provides independent legal, regulatory, and business intelligence to the global gambling industry.

The jackpot investigation case began with a lottery ticket purchased in December 2010 in Des Moines and culminated in 2017 with guilty pleas from three men who admitted they illegally claimed prizes by rigging lottery drawings in five states. Eddie Tipton, the man at the center of the investigation, installed malicious computer code that allowed him to predict winning numbers in some lottery drawings.

The Iowa Lottery noticed that something was amiss from the group’s earliest attempt to claim the jackpot won in Des Moines, and requested that the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation open an investigation.

Tipton pleaded guilty to three felony charges in Iowa and Wisconsin and was sentenced in August 2017 to up to 25 years in prison. He had conspired with friends and family to claim lottery prizes in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Wisconsin and attempt to claim a lottery jackpot in Iowa, which ultimately was not paid.

Tipton’s younger brother, Tommy Tipton, also pleaded guilty in the case, as did Tipton’s long-time friend, Robert Rhodes.

Fort Dodge Man Charged In Theft Of Lottery Tickets

 

A Fort Dodge man faces three felony charges following an investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Iowa Lottery into scratch tickets that were missing from a Fort Dodge convenience store. Click here to see the full details today from the DCI.

Lottery Statement Regarding Plea Agreement In Long-Running Jackpot Investigation

You may have heard that an agreement was reached today with Eddie Tipton and Tommy Tipton in the long-running jackpot investigation.

Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich released the following statement regarding today’s court proceedings:

“We’re pleased with the agreement that has been reached in the Tipton cases.  We understand that this agreement, if approved by a judge in Iowa, will resolve the pending criminal court proceedings relating to the attempt to claim the 2010 Hot Lotto jackpot prize in Iowa, as well as to the other lottery prizes paid in Wisconsin, Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado.

We’re thankful for the extensive work in this nationwide lottery investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and authorities from around the country. We’re also grateful for the support of former Governor Terry Branstad and Governor Kim Reynolds, for the priority that they have placed on protecting the integrity of the lottery system here in Iowa.

As these cases reach conclusion, we look forward to the process to help answer any remaining questions about exactly what occurred. This information will be valuable to the Iowa Lottery and the lottery industry as a whole to help us safeguard our games and protect our players.

We have said all along that the Iowa Lottery will follow the facts of this investigation wherever they may lead. I am pleased to say we are one step closer to the end of that road today.

I continue to have confidence that Iowa Lottery games offered today are fair. Our lottery has strong layers of security in place to protect lottery players, lottery games and lottery prizes. We will continue to enhance the layers of security to protect the integrity of our lottery games.”

More information about today’s court proceedings and the long-running jackpot investigation can be found on our website, here.

New Twist In Scam Attempts

It seems like scam attempts have become a fact of life these days, but from the latest reports coming our way, some scammers are taking a slight twist in their approach.

We’ve heard from folks in the last week who all have received text messages claiming that they’ve won a big prize, or should enter a contest for a chance to win. In all of the instances, the scammers asked for the individual’s personally-identifying information – something you should never give out online for personal security purposes.

We’ve seen scams in the past that utilized telephone calls, letters and email, so we’re not surprised to see text messages in play as well. But it does appear to be a new twist. Scam operations are nearly impossible to trace and shut down because they generally are based outside the United States. You can have the most impact in thwarting their efforts by being alert and protecting yourself.

If someone contacts you and says you’ve won a big prize, ask yourself this basic question: Did I buy a ticket or enter that contest? If you didn’t, it’s likely a scam.

We have an entire section on our website dedicated to Player Security reminders, but here are a few quick highlights to remember:

• Keep your credit card, bank account and Social Security information private. Scam artists will often ask for them with the goal of accessing your accounts and stealing your money!
• Never pay processing fees, insurance or commissions to claim a lottery prize. Legitimate lotteries do not require winners to pay anything up front to receive a prize.
• Never believe a letter, phone call or Internet message from someone who claims they can guarantee you a prize. Legitimate lotteries do not guarantee that you will win a prize and do not require you to join a prize pool to play.

Do the Lottery Terminal and Self-Checker Give the Same Results?

A player just sent us an interesting question about the lottery equipment in retail locations across the state: Does the lottery terminal give the same results as a self-checker? The quick answer is yes, and that’s a good security feature to keep in mind.

In nearly all locations where lottery tickets are sold in Iowa, there are two pieces of equipment that can be used to scan lottery tickets. One of the devices allows you to check your tickets on your own. It’s called a self-checker and it’s usually installed in an area away from the main cash register so you can be out of the busy store traffic when you use it.

The other device is the lottery terminal where you buy tickets in lotto games like Powerball® and Mega Millions® and can check the results of your tickets.

You can use either device to scan the "Scratch 2 Cash" area on an instant-scratch ticket or the bar code on a lotto ticket to see if it's won a prize. The self-checker will display a message on its screen with the results of your ticket, and if it's a winner, you can then go to the terminal to cash the ticket or decide to claim the prize at a later time. The lottery terminal will cash the ticket if it has won a prize.  

The results of a lottery ticket are imbedded on the ticket itself, so any lottery device will give the same result for that ticket. If for some reason you think you’ve received a different answer about your ticket from one device to another, take some extra time to verify the information you’ve received.  And if you have further questions, you’re always welcome to send your ticket to us here at the lottery and we can double-check it for you.

Player Mail: Do The Drawing Balls All Weigh The Same?

Here’s a great question to send us into the weekend, and it comes from a woman named Jamie on Facebook who asks: “For the games that require ball drawings like Powerball, Hot Lotto, Mega Millions, etc., are the balls weighed before the drawings and does each ball weigh the exact same amount?”
 
The answer is: Yes, on both counts! Those are just part of the security procedures in place for our drawings. I’ve blogged about the security behind our drawings a few times, including this 2008 entry that includes a lot of detail.

Not only are the numbered balls weighed, they’re also X-rayed and measured to meet precise size, weight and density specifications. There are multiple sets of balls and machines that can be used in lottery drawings, and the equipment that is used in a particular drawing is randomly selected as part of the security procedures.

 

New Charge Filed, Lottery Jackpot Investigation Expands To CO, WI

 

 

A new arrest has been made in that long-running lottery jackpot investigation that began here in Iowa. The investigation now has been expanded and includes jackpot prize claims from Colorado and Wisconsin.

Click on the video above to see details from the news conference where the new charge was announced. Click here to see the announcement from the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

 

10-Year Sentence Handed Down In Hot Lotto Case

The man convicted of fraud in the long-running Hot Lotto investigation has been sentenced today to 10 years in prison. A Polk County District Court judge handed down the maximum sentence that Eddie Tipton could have received for his offenses, noting that the crime was a large breach of trust.

Tipton, of Norwalk, had worked at a lottery vendor organization that handles the day-to-day functions in several lottery games, including Hot Lotto. Among other responsibilities, the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) carries out lottery game drawings and hosts websites of many U.S. lotteries. Tipton had worked as the director of information security at MUSL, which is based in Urbandale.

Tipton's lawyer indicated today that he plans to appeal.

Today's events have been years coming, and the sentencing is a bit of closure after all this time.

Every organization will face tests throughout its history, and this case certainly was one for our lottery. It’s disconcerting that someone who’d worked at a vendor organization within the lottery industry chose to betray the trust placed in him for his own personal gain. We’re glad that the judicial system worked and we have an outcome today.

We’ve said before that this case is an important reminder to lotteries everywhere to keep monitoring and making improvements to stay ahead of those who would try to beat the system. It was the strong procedures at our lottery that caught the fraud attempt in this case and prevented this multi-million-dollar jackpot from being paid out.

We’re proud of the work that was done in this case and thank the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation for their dedication and professionalism in achieving this outcome.

The money from this jackpot, which totaled nearly $10.8 million in cash, was returned to the lotteries in the Hot Lotto game in proportion to the sales from each jurisdiction. The Iowa Lottery received about $1.4 million back and gave that money away in a special promotion called "Mystery Millionaire" back in 2012.

Lottery Issues Statement Following Verdict in Hot Lotto Trial

Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich issued the following statement today after the jury's verdict in the long-running Hot Lotto case:

“There is no doubt this has been a fascinating case. We respect the court’s work and the jury’s verdict. The facts in this case have enabled us to further enhance our layers of security to protect the integrity of lottery games, and that ultimately has been a positive. 

This case is an important reminder that lotteries have to keep monitoring and making improvements to stay ahead of those who would try to beat the system. As a society, we may never be able to stop people from trying to commit crime, but we need to have strong procedures in place to catch and prevent them when they do.

I have confidence that the games we offer today are fair. Our lottery has strong layers of security to protect lottery players, lottery games and lottery prizes. Those procedures enabled us to seek information about the winning ticket in this case and not pay the prize until basic questions could be answered – and they never were.

There was no prize paid in this instance. The money from this jackpot, which totaled nearly $10.8 million in cash, was returned to the lotteries in the Hot Lotto game in proportion to the sales from each jurisdiction. The Iowa Lottery received about $1.4 million back and gave the money away in a special summer promotion called ‘Mystery Millionaire’ back in 2012. Fifteen players ended up winning prizes in that promotion.

The details in this case are important for anyone who has ever played a lottery game, the good causes benefitted by lotteries, and the billions of dollars at stake. There obviously were indications that something was amiss with this particular prize claim. This case has provided our lottery with an opportunity to better pinpoint potential security risks and update our procedures to protect against them.”

Player Mail: Why Is There A Sales Cut-Off Before A Drawing?

One of our followers on Twitter asked a question that we said we’d answer here on the blog because it takes a little more explanation than we can fit in a 140-character message. The question came from a man named David who said: “Why is there a cutoff time for when you can buy lottery tickets? I don’t get it.”

Our initial answer back was: “The cut-off time is in place to stop sales before a drawing is held – there has to be a point when sales stop b 4 draw.” And that’s true. But here’s the rest of the story:

I’ve blogged before about the many layers of security that go into a lottery drawing. One of the steps required is for the lottery to verify that all sales figures balance before the drawing can begin. We’re helping to ensure that all plays for a particular drawing are accounted for and that everything is ready to go. 

As computer speeds and technology have increased, it requires less time than it used to for that to occur. Today, you can generally purchase tickets here in Iowa up until about an hour before the drawing in one of our lotto games. Several years ago, the sales cut-off time was two hours before the drawing, but we’ve been able to reduce that, which we hope has been a convenience for our players and retailers.

I would imagine there will always be some time required for balancing and verification before a drawing can happen, but maybe someday the time involved will be even shorter than it is now.

The exact sales cut-off times vary from state to state, depending upon the requirements in that particular state. Check your state lottery’s website for the information that applies in your area.

We’ll continue to do our best to keep the time period involved for that here in Iowa as short as possible.

Don't Fall For Lottery Scams!

We can’t say this enough: Don’t fall for lottery scams!

We’ve received several inquiries this week from players asking if an email stating they won some Mega Millions prize money is legitimate. Guess what? These emails are fake, and are most likely a scam. Don’t fall for it!

Remember, in order to win a lottery prize you must first purchase a ticket from a licensed retail location in Iowa – you can’t win if you don’t play! And secondly, the lottery won’t contact you if you win a Mega Millions prize (or any other prize from a winning lottery ticket). It’s your responsibility as a player to sign your winning ticket and present it to a lottery retailer or lottery office to claim your prize.

The only time the Iowa Lottery will contact you is if you win a prize in one of our promotional drawings, like the first 30 Somethings drawings we conducted Thursday.

The best thing that any of us can do is to remain vigilant against scams and NEVER share our personally identifying information such as Social Security numbers or bank account information.

If you’re ever in doubt about information that supposedly came from a legitimate lottery, feel free to call us at 515.725.7900 and ask to speak with someone in our Security Division. It’s always better to be safe than sorry!

FTC Warning About Scams

I’ve posted warning after warning through the years here on the blog about scammers who want nothing more than to separate you from your hard-earned money. The scammers have used the names of lottery games, lottery officials and even lottery winners to try to get you to believe them.

Now there’s a new warning about scams, and this time, the reminder comes from the Federal Trade Commission. If you get a letter saying that you won a sweepstakes and the FTC has investigated the situation to help you claim the prize, guess what? It’s fake. Don’t fall for it!

When you have a moment, visit the Player Security section on our website where we keep all sorts of reminders about how to protect yourself against fraud.

Another Arrest In Hot Lotto Investigation

Another arrest has been made in the long-running investigation into the Hot Lotto jackpot won in December 2010 in Des Moines only to see the claim later withdrawn.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation released the latest details today, noting that a Texas man has been charged with two counts of fraud in the case. Robert C. Rhodes II of Sugar Land, Texas, was arrested last night and jailed on a $500,000 cash-only bond.

Court records in the case indicate a connection between Rhodes and the Iowa man charged in the case back in January.   

We’re gratified to see the continued developments in the investigation and know that law enforcement’s thorough review is getting us closer to the answers in one of the strangest stories in the history of lotteries.

Another Clean Report For Iowa’s Lottery

News is out today that’s a big deal for us here at the lottery, but it’s just as important to anyone who’s ever played one of our games. The Iowa Lottery has gotten another clean report from the State Auditor's Office.

Under state law, the Auditor reviews the Lottery’s operations each year. Those checks are in addition to the security and integrity standards the Lottery uses throughout its operations to ensure the integrity of its games. Click here to see today‘s report from State Auditor David Vaudt regarding his office’s fiscal year 2012 audit of the Lottery.

The official language of the report notes that the Auditor’s Office “did not identify any deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting we consider to be material weaknesses.”

The report also goes on to say: “The results of our tests disclosed no instances  of  non-compliance  or  other  matters  that  are  required  to  be  reported  under Government Auditing Standards.”

Why is that a big deal to you? In plain language, it means that an outside auditor looked at the financial operations of the Iowa Lottery and gave us a clean report.

We look at the auditor's report each year as another measure of how we're doing. We’re proud of our record here at the lottery and know that integrity must be at the heart of everything we do. It’s just as important as the sales we achieve, because if people don’t believe that the lottery is operated fairly and securely, they understandably wouldn’t want to buy tickets.

Integrity is what players demand if they’re going to trust us enough to play our games. It’s what the public demands of us if it's to trust in the information we provide. We keep that in mind every day and appreciate the confidence you’ve shown in Iowa’s lottery.

We thank the Auditor for the work of his office and staff and look forward to working with them again in their upcoming reviews.

Upcoming Changes For Lottery And Amber Alerts

The Iowa Lottery’s new equipment that you see in retail locations around the state will bring some important updates to Iowa Amber Alerts to find abducted children. Specifically, the lottery for the first time will be able to display in the businesses that sell its tickets photos of the children involved in the Alerts.

When the lottery’s new system becomes fully functional July 3, the flat-screen monitors you see at lottery terminals will be able to display new graphics for Amber Alerts. The graphics will include space for detailed information about the case, including a photo. The lottery will be able to display a photo of the missing child if one is available, or depending on the specifics of the case, perhaps a photo of the suspect or vehicle involved.
 
We think the changes will be a big help in identifying the people and vehicles involved in Amber Alerts – and hopefully locating the missing child.

During Amber Alerts, the lottery also sends out retailer messages about the case to all lottery terminals in the state. The terminal rings to alert retail employees to the new message, which can be printed out and given to customers. The new system will be able to accommodate much longer messages than before, allowing the lottery to provide more details about the case.

It’s all about bringing more eyes and ears to the search for an abducted child, and we’re excited about the additional assistance we’ll be able to add to the process.

The Iowa Lottery was a founding member of Iowa’s Amber Alert program in 2003. Amber Alert plans began to be organized around the country following the 1996 kidnapping and murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman in Arlington, Texas.

The Amber Alert program is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies, state programs and broadcasters to activate an urgent bulletin in child abduction cases where there is a threat of serious bodily injury or death. The goal of an Amber Alert is to get the entire community to search for the child and help bring them home safe.

Good News In Latest Security Checks

Another round of good news for anyone who’s ever bought a lottery ticket in Iowa or cashed one here!

This week, we conducted our latest round of unannounced security checks at Iowa retail locations to see how winning lottery tickets are being handled. And I’m pleased to report that once again, all tickets were handled appropriately by retail staff.

Lottery investigators visited 51 retailers in 20 western Iowa counties this time. The prizes for the tickets involved totaled more than $250,000. And the outcome was the same as in previous checks: All tickets were handled as they should be.

The lottery also conducted security compliance checks in February, April, May and August. All tickets were handled properly in those earlier checks as well. It appears we’ve got a smooth-running system in our state, but we all have to be on the look-out if we’re going to protect ourselves against fraud.

Problems with ticket redemption have been reported in other states, most recently in Idaho.

A convenience store employee in Idaho Falls was charged with felony presentation of an illegally obtained Lottery ticket after security compliance checks by the Idaho Lottery. Investigators said she kept a ticket presented to her by an undercover lottery staffer. The clerk thought the ticket had won a six-figure prize. She was arrested when she took the ticket to the Idaho Lottery and tried to claim it.  

We’re going to keep doing random checks of the ticket-cashing process. At the Iowa Lottery, 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.

Results Of Latest Security Checks In Iowa

Another round of security checks at lottery retail locations in Iowa, another round of good news!

We’ve just completed our latest round of unannounced security checks at randomly selected retail locations across the state and once again, all tickets were handled appropriately by retail staff. But there was a big difference between this month’s checks and those we conducted earlier this year. The prizes from the tickets involved this time were much larger, totaling $1.5 million. But the outcome is the same: The tickets were handled as they should be. 

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation worked with the lottery on this round of checks. We again varied the times that stores were visited, making stops during the day and at night. And, we purposefully timed this month’s checks to hit during the current Powerball jackpot run that’s creating high sales. The jackpot has climbed to an estimated $161 million for Saturday’s drawing and it’s definitely made for heavier traffic in stores around Iowa!

We think it’s important to try out different scenarios during our security checks to cover as many situations as possible. In February, lottery security investigators, all of whom were men, posed as the customers. In April, investigators oversaw the process, but women who work at the lottery posed as customers and presented the tickets for cashing. Then in May, we made a lot of our stops at night.

In the checks earlier this year, the prizes involved were $600 or less, so they could be claimed at the retail level. This time around, the prizes were larger, so they would ultimately have to be claimed at a lottery office. Our investigators and DCI agents presented to them in the stores to see what the reaction would be. The results show Iowa has a retail system that’s functioning well. But we know there have been problems in areas outside our state, so we need to guard against even the possibility of that here.  

Click here and here to read about the issues that have been uncovered during lottery security checks in other states.    

If you ever have a concern about the Iowa Lottery, our products or operations, please contact us at our main number in Des Moines at 515-725-7900 or by e-mail at Wmaster@ialottery.com. If you have a security-related concern about the lottery, please call the Lottery Security Department directly at 515-725-7900.

Be On Guard Against Lottery Scams

For the past couple years, we’ve been working to get the word out about lottery scams that have been hitting in the United States. There unfortunately seems to be a steady stream of them making their way around via e-mail, letters and telephone calls. We’ve seen some new examples just this week, so it’s a good time to call attention to the matter again.    

In most instances, the crooks running the scams are working from outside the United States and they move around a lot, making it extremely difficult to track them down and prosecute them for what they’re doing.

The best way you can protect yourself is by remaining on the look-out for such scams. And don’t respond to them. To see some examples of the scam letters and e-mails we’ve seen, click here, here and here.         

On our Web site, we have an entire section devoted to player security, including warnings about these scams. Please visit our site to see all the details there. Here are some quick reminder warnings to keep in mind and protect yourself from scams:

• Remember that the only lottery legally authorized to operate in Iowa is the Iowa Lottery. If you receive suspicious materials, telephone calls or e-mails or if you are ever in doubt about information that supposedly came from a legitimate lottery, call the Iowa Lottery Security Department at 515-725-7888.
• Never accept a collect telephone call from someone claiming to be a lottery official! Legitimate lotteries do not call collect.
• Never believe a letter, phone call or Internet message from someone who claims they can guarantee you a prize! Legitimate lotteries do not guarantee that you will win a prize and do not require people to join prize pools to play.
• Never purchase tickets from foreign lotteries by phone, mail or the Internet. The sale and trafficking in foreign lottery tickets is a violation of federal criminal law.
• Never agree to help a stranger cash a lottery ticket. If you do, more than likely you will become the victim of a "pigeon drop" scam. If you are approached by a stranger asking for help cashing a ticket, contact Lottery Security and your local law enforcement immediately.
• Unless you specifically entered an Iowa Lottery promotion, you will never be contacted by us informing you that you have won any prize.
• Keep your credit card and bank account numbers to yourself. Scam artists will often ask for them with the goal of accessing your accounts and stealing your money!
• Never pay processing fees, insurance or commissions to claim a lottery prize. Legitimate lotteries do not require winners to pay anything up front to receive a prize.

Results Of Latest Security Checks In Iowa

There’s good news from another round of security checks at lottery retail locations in Iowa.

Lottery investigators posing as customers visited 66 randomly-selected retail locations last week, presenting tickets for cashing that each had won prizes of up to $100. In every instance, the location paid the correct prize amount.

We’re varying the approach we use in our checks, and this time, our investigators made many of their stops at night, while their previous checks had been during the day. And, we purposefully timed this month’s checks to hit during the current big Powerball jackpot run that’s creating high sales. The jackpot has climbed to an estimated $170 million for tonight’s drawing.

We think it’s important to try out different scenarios during our security checks to try to cover as many situations as possible. In February, lottery security investigators, all of whom were men, posed as the customers. In April, investigators oversaw the process, but women who work at the lottery posed as customers and presented the tickets for cashing. Now this month, we did many of our stops at night. In all of our checks, the locations paid the correct prize amount for the tickets presented to them.

I’ve blogged before about the problems with lottery ticket redemption in areas outside Iowa, and all the actions we’ve taken are designed to guard against even the possibility of that here in our state. Click here and here to read those earlier blogs.    

If you ever have a concern about the Iowa Lottery, our products or operations, please contact us at our main number in Des Moines at 515-725-7900 or by e-mail at Wmaster@ialottery.com. If you have a security-related concern about the lottery, please call the Lottery Security Department directly at 515-725-7900.