An Inside Job?

The Fifth Estate has revealed a rather disturbing bit of news for those that play the lotteries, not everyone has our best interests at heart.

Hard as it is to believe, some retailers are taking advantage of their clients especially those of an advancing age and have cashed in tickets of customers reaping large prizes while telling their customers they either won a lesser prize or no prize at all.

The Globe and Mail has a preview of the show which airs on CBC Wednesday night and suggests figures that state “More than two hundred lottery “insiders” have won prizes of $50,000 or more in Ontario since 1999, and more than two-thirds of these wins may have involved the deception of a customer who bought the ticket.”

The control over the payouts varies across the country, with BC offering at least a more involved process for any winnings over 3,000 dollars. The BC Lottery Commission requires anyone who wins a prize over that amount to come in for questioning regarding the process of purchasing and redeeming their tickets. It makes for a process that may at least deter all but the most devious of folks from trying to reap an undeserved reward.

Contrast that to the process in Ontario where you don’t have to answer any questions until you reach 50,000 dollars and you can understand why Ontario may be leading the nation in fraudulently obtained jackpots.

The findings by the Fifth estate seem to have hit a nerve at the Ontario Lottery Corporation, which is disputing the findings and interpretation of the Lottery scene in Ontario. They suggest that the CBC got their figures wrong and are providing a misleading conclusion to the state of the lotteries in Ontario. The official position of the Lottery Corporation in that province is; “Ontario is a leader in Lottery security.”

Like anything else in life, the lotteries are very much a buyer beware transaction, players should be a bit more pro-active in their fates when taking on the games of chance and fate.

It's pretty well a given in gabmling that at most times you can't beat the house, but in this instance it seems we can’t even beat the middleman.

The lesson to be learned from all of this is a simple one, check your tickets yourself, or have someone you trust implicitly to check your tickets. If you’re going to inadvertently be sharing your money or even worse giving it away, best to give it to somebody that might actually have your best interests at heart!