Welcome to the Wonderful World of the Lottery Ticket Scam: A Guide to Keeping Your Money to Yourself

Don’t Look for Easy Money!

People are eager to win easy money. This is the reason why lotteries exist. This is also the reason why lottery scams exist, as well. Many of these are disguised as legitimate opportunities, fooling gullible individuals into dreaming bit and losing big.

The lottery ticket scam is one such deceitful and dangerous development. Numerous lottery players have fallen victims. Want to protect your money? Read on and make sure that you understand how the lottery ticket scam works before looking for yet another easy money opportunity.

Congratulations, You’re the Lucky Winner (Not!)

This is probably one of the oldest scams on the face of the planet, yet it still works. What’s even more interesting is that this has been attempted by scam artists from all parts of the world. Many of these con artists have successfully fooled naïve individuals into believing they could soon be the winners of lottery millions.

So, how exactly does the lottery ticket scam work?

The scammer records the winning numbers from the previous draw. He or she then goes ahead to buy a new ticket featuring these numbers. The ticket isn’t a winner since it hasn’t been submitted for the right draw.

The scammer will then move on to falsify the ticket’s date. Thus, it appears as if the ticket features the winning numbers for the correct draw. Such tickets are created with varying degrees of precision, depending on the scammer’s lottery ticket forgery skills. Though it can’t pass an official lottery inspection, the ticket can easily food the inexperienced eye of someone eager to get their hands on the jackpot.

Usually, the scammers sell the ticket to some unsuspecting victim. The reasons for getting rid of a winning ticket can be numerous. Scammers can say that they can’t collect the prize due to the criminal background that they’re in urgent need of cash and can’t wait, that they aren’t legal residents of the country or that they’re underage.

The amount for which the “winning” ticket will be sold to the victim is going to depend on the scammer’s negotiation skills and the victim’s desire to win without even having bought a lottery ticket for the respective draw.

Lottery Scammers Going a Step Too Far

As already mentioned, the lottery ticket scam can’t fool lottery officials. This doesn’t mean, however, that people haven’t tried to claim a jackpot that they weren’t entitled to.

In 2012, a woman from Illinois tried this very scam to collect the Mega Millions jackpot of 656 million dollars.

Leandria Williams believed that she had cracked the code. After the Mega Millions draw, she went online and bought a ticket featuring all of the winning numbers. Mind you, Williams bought her online ticket only eight minutes after the end of the lottery draw.

She then falsified the date of the ticket, making it look as if it was submitted on time and for the correct draw.

Williams went ahead and tried to claim the delicious jackpot. The Mega Millions records for the date, however, showed only three winning tickets. None of them were from Illinois. Officials got suspicious and took a more careful look at the ticket that the crafty lady was trying to pass off as a winning one.

Because of the attempt to claim money she wasn’t entitled to, Williams was charged with wire fraud, attempted theft and forgery. So, if you’re thinking about this option for claiming the jackpot – don’t do it. There are digital records holding information about all of the legitimately submitted tickets. These records also show the number of winners and where the tickets have been bought.

Staying Safe: A Few Basic Tips

Protecting yourself from the lottery ticket scam is a rather easy task.

All that you have to do is BUY THE TICKET YOURSELF! If you don’t enter a ticket for the particular draw, you can’t expect to win anything. Yes, the odds of getting the money this way are low, but it’s the only legitimate opportunity that you have.

Don’t trust individuals pushing a supposedly winning lottery ticket. They will tell you tragic stories about being in debt, having family emergencies or other problems standing in the way of claiming the prize. These people are good actors, and their performance can be compelling. Don’t fall for the scam, even if the “jackpot” ticket is being offered to you at a rather low price.

Depending on the victim’s mentality and the skills of the scammer, this simple rip-off attempt can lead to the loss of thousands of dollars. You may think that such scams aren’t common, but the truth is quite different.

If you’re passionate about the lottery, you should have fun, choose your numbers and buy your tickets. That’s where all of the thrills stems from. Finally, remember a simple rule of thumb – if something appears too good to be true, it probably is. Don’t let scammers get your hope high. The more emotional you get about it, the more difficult it would be to spot a blatant lie.