Winning the lottery is all about having a combination of matching random outcomes and immense luck.
But there are some players who are not satisfied with luck and are more inclined to try to “influence” the lottery outcomes in their favour to become the actual, or perceived, winner.
Yes, there are people out there who do try to cheat on the lottery in a variety of ways.
Changing Your Numbers
One way a player might cheat is to alter the numbers on a scratch or lottery ticket.
By using a pen, marker, or other device, they alter one or more numbers on a non-winning ticket to match the winning combination that was drawn for that date.
1’s are turned into 7’s, 5’s turned into 6’s, 3’s turned into 8’s, and vice versa.
Most times the alterations are not noticed by the retailer but in most cases they do get noticed by lottery staff who are trained to look for this sort of thing in validating winning tickets.
Of course, jurisdictions that verify winning tickets in the system will automatically indicate that the ticket is a non-winner.
If the player pushes that his ticket is a genuine winner and that there is something wrong with the system, the retailer will contact the lottery operator, who will immediately investigate.
The Previous Draw
Another way that some people cheat on the lottery is done by not ever validating the ticket at all but by scamming another player.
The cheating player buys a ticket using the precious draw’s winning numbers.
They then change the date on the ticket to make it look like it is a winning ticket for the previous draw.
The cheating player then finds someone he can sell the ticket to at a “discount” citing reasons such as he can’t cash the ticket due to immigration status/criminal record/other such excuse, or he desperately needs the money for a child’s or wife’s operation, or other financial emergency and simply can’t wait to receive the funds from the lottery operator.
Of course, when the unsuspecting player tries to cash in the ticket, they become the prime suspect in the lottery fraud.
Cut and Paste
Other players will cut out numbers from other tickets and then paste them to a non-winning ticket to try to turn it into a winning one, and others even combine parts of two or more tickets into one to try to pass it off as a winner.
Of course, even if it gets past the retailer, the operator will spot the alteration immediately and launch their investigation.
Unsatisfied Retailers
But it is not only some players who try to cheat on the lottery.
Some retailers also become unsatisfied with the money and bonuses from selling and redeeming tickets and turn a little trick of their own.
When a customer hands over a ticket to have it validated, any large win is not divulged to the player, and the retailer states the ticket is either a non-winner or a winner of a small prize.
Once the player leaves without the ticket or with their small prize, the retailer will either cash the ticket themselves and claim the jackpot, or get a family member or friend to do it for them for a portion of the win.
Cheaters Will Be Prosecuted
Very seldom do lottery cheats get away with their shenanigans. The lottery operators and regulators are quite adept at determining legitimate tickets that win, and will prosecute players and retailers who try to cheat.
And even though these cheaters are well publicised in the news media, other cheaters still try to claim wins they have not legitimately won.
This not only puts a bad view upon the lottery itself, but ultimately is cheating honest players out of legitimate wins.
Lotteries are conducted with integrity and honesty and players should play the lottery with the same honesty and integrity.