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You must check tickets for the game date, correct number of rows, and even the game. All the tickets look the same. In 2001 I was handed a week-old 6/49 ticket for $2 worth of numbers, when what I asked for was $4 worth of Super/7. I rarely buy 6/49 but having left the store before I realized what had happened, there was no recourse. $4 of free Super/7 tickets for the retailer!

Here are some suggestions:

- each game have its own colour of ticket or otherwise make the tickets more identifiable from a glance

- get rid of clutter and don't 'cross-advertise' (ie. printing a reference to Super 7 jackpot on the bottom of a 6/49 ticket)

- make the ticket pop out of the machine 'towards' the consumers, so they can take it out themselves (must pay before it is rung up)

Steve Garry

When you have your ticket checked always sign it big or small

It was brought to my attention by another
aquaintance that a certain male individual
literally always present for great lengths of
time at this kiosk. The kiosk sell Nevada
tickets with some winners up to $5,000.00.
Usually the same operator was on duty.
Nothing stops someone from watching and counting all the large wins and then purchasing the remainder if the large prize has not been picked. I have personally witnessed this several time and had thought about informing the OLGC about it.

4

4

...of course, to avoid scrutiny by the OLG, the smart insider would simply give the ticket to a conspiring friend and share the winnings.

The solution is very, very simple: Always check your ticket number by yourself. Phone the free phone number on the back of the ticket for winning numbers. It's free. It's that easy, and it's that fool-proof. So sleep well, and good luck!

It was good to hear that this story finally made it in the news, unfortunately at the expense of Rob Edmonds and many others.

I have mentioned my suspicion of the problem of 'shady' lottery retailers & employees to family & friends for a while now - many thought I was simply being paranoid.

I have witnessed convenience store employees running tickets through the lottery terminal while no one was lined up and hearing the 'winning song' over and over again. At first I said to myself "Good for them!" - then after several wins in a row, I became suspicious.

Many people do not check their tickets but ask the retailer to check their ticket for them. This happens with people with busy schedules, groups playing many tickets, the elderly, and people who are visually impaired.

At most retailers the lottery terminals are hidden from the public and the customer cannot see their ticket being scanned.

Lately, I have noticed that some retailers are providing a self-check service, but the self-check system only indicates if you are a winner or not...collecting the actual winnings could be another story.

I think the only thing that the Lottery Corporation can do to restore the faith of it's customers is to install a self-check service at all of it's retailers, where the winning details of ticket are clearly displayed and also ensure that lottery terminals are placed in clear view of customers.

I hope that the Lottery Corporation will correct this 'very real' problem.

I have been suspicious myself when the clerk scanned my ticket and immediately tosses it into the garbage. So, I ask for it back.

But if it is a winner, are they required to keep the winning ticket or can they give it back too? I will try that and see the next time I win something.

The automatic scanners that confirm "It's a Winner" should also advise how much the ticket has won. That would solve the whole issue.

I wonder what this statistician, Dr. Jeffrey Rosenthal, based the expected number of winnings on? The proportion of lotto clerks to the general population? Or the number of tickets sold to lotto clerks vs. general population?

I would assume that being an educated statistician he would have used the correct criteria, but being as these news articles never have any weblinks to referenced literature, I guess I won't know.

I'm sure there is at least a small group of retail lotto clerks that are unethical and would intentionally steal winning tickets from customers, but I doubt it is rampant.

The moral of the story is don't assume anything and use the space on the back of ticket that is intended for your name.

I'm happy to report that I have never experienced a problem when validating my tickets.

I've been playing lotto for donkey's years, and I always check my numbers BEFORE I take them in to be validated, so I know exactly what I have won.

I've always received the prize I was expecting; I've never had to challenge a clerk. The store in Cambridge (on Brant) that I frequent makes it their practice to put the validation slip on the counter, facing the customer.

They do not discard anything unless the customer does not want the slips returned. Anyone who is not offered their validation slip should feel free to ask for it. If they feel uncomfortable doing so, they can simply say it is for their lotto group.

While I haven't had a problem with direct lottery vendors, I have had problems with some staff at pubs and bars.

Often times, the Keno ticket machines are down and twice now I've had a small winner (50 to 100 dollars) and had the staff check them.

The first time I figured I goofed but two weeks later when it happened again, I demanded my ticket back (they tried to had back a ticket that wasn't mine [I marked it]) and found it was a 75 dollar winner at another bar.

Needless to say, that bar wench isn't working there no more.

I just reading the stories from across the country and wanted to add my own.

I was with a friend in Montreal. The agent at a corner store checked the lotto ticket in the machine and printed the receipt showing my friend had won 50$.

Incredibly, the agent said, "I'm sorry I do not have the 50$ to pay you." I just could not believe it! In the end, we got the $50 but I recall leaving the store and thinking "My God, this guy is ripping people off."

I also remember thinking of reporting him but didn't ... afterall, we got our 50 bucks and I had no proof. It would have been my word against his.

There will always be a few store clerks who are looking for opportunities to scam people, and the majority of others who are honest and simply doing their job - as in any other area of society.

Although I will definitely take more care with any lottery tickets I buy from now on, this is probably just a routine scam like all the others that we should be on guard against.

In the meantime I hope consumers will wait to get all the facts in this story, without pillorying all store clerks as one "dishonest" group.

Yes, I have seen retailers try to rip off customers for small amounts (4 dollar payout instead of ten). But I suspect these statistics may have missed an important element of the equation.

I bet that the retailers who sell (and validate) countless lottery tickets over the course of a week are far more likely than the average citizen to buy lottery tickets for themselves.

Most of us do not know what the 649 jackpot is this week;the retailer knows exactly what it is and sees people winning (small amounts)on a regular basis. It would surprise me if these folks let a 649 drawing pass without buying their own ticket.

Either way, I'll be happy if this scare means less people will be standing in line to validate tickets while I'm trying to pay for gas.

Hi, I was not surprised to know this information. I think that vendors of the lottery can mis-inform the customers about winning.

Only some of the Lotto locations have electronic equipmet where the client can check the ticket himself. I think that all big lottery locations should have this equipment.

We all have stories of cashiers and such pulling these stunts. I have my own. My BS detector has gone off too several times.

Each time it's gone off, I've pushed for verification, look at the ticket reciept, etc. A few times I've walked away with a few bucks as well as my free ticket that is claimed as the sole prize.

The bottom line is, check your ticket reciept that comes out saying "loser" or "$50.00" (I've yet to see more zeros than that sadly!).

Better yet, write your name on the back of the ticket before you have it scanned (use a stamp if you play alot), photocopy the ticket, force them to show you the reciept.

Candadians are polite, sometimes to their own detriment. With jackpots as sizeable as the lotto 6/49 and others, why would I be polite for a split second and not question the cashier, ask for my reciept slip, etc.?

I have seen a lottery agent trying to cheat a winner. This summer, I stood (at Centerpoint Mall, Younge Street, Thornhill) on the side where I could see both the screen and the printer, awaiting my turn when an elderly lady handed over her ticket.

The machine dinged for a winner and the agent handed over a pre-printed ticket that was lying on the counter, not taken out of the machine, and said: "You won a free ticket".

I protested and said, "you didn't print that ticket now, where is the one you just printed?" He then said - "sorry, I made a mistake", and handed over the newly printed result-ticket on which she had won $ 65.00.

She immediately cashed that ticket at the counter and quickly left. I was ready to call the Police right then and there but thought it pointless since the lady just quietly walked off into the stream of shoppers and was out of sight in moments.

I now mark my ticket with a pencil before I hand it over and always ask for my original ticket back with the print-out, winning or not! There is one agency with many counters in Kitchener-Waterloo where the agent is told NEVER to return any ticket to the player, winning or not.

I have argued at that counter and even written a letter to the president of that company with only the reply - that is our policy, we have to keep all tickets handed over to us.

I had an incident happen to me back in 1994 when I just turned legal and started buying lottery tickets occasionally.

I asked the cashier at a local store to check the ticket, he did so, but did not give me back my ticket, telling me that I hadn't won anything. I knew something was wrong by the way he looked at me, and I have spent years regretting not saying anything but I was too young at the time to understand the potential of store clerks doing illegal acts such as stealing winning lottery tickets.

It should be considered a major felony, like entering into someone's house and robbing them.

Store clerks are retiring in the Bahamas. It's probably the easiest, most lucrative, most low-risk crime I can think of.

This is very interesting... A few years ago I was visiting my parents in Waterloo Ontario. I walked to the local Lotto retailer and asked to have my 6/49 ticket checked. Without any receipt I was told I had won nothing and the clerk just "threw" my ticket away.

I have always felt bizarre about that particular incident and some 4 years later I still remember the place and the way my ticket was treated as highly suspect.

Ever since then, I always make a mark on my ticket of some kind before handing it to a clerk for checking and watch them carefully. I do not trust them anymore.

Thankfully here in BC we can check our own tickets now.

J D Healey
Burnaby BC Canada