USA lottery scam settlement is now open for applications

By Steve Ashfield

onSep 13, 2019

USA lottery scam settlement is now open for applications

Losing lottery players in the US are entitled to a lottery scam settlement. Players across 33 states may be eligible for refunds after losing out during a lottery scam which is worth $4.3m.

The largest lottery scam in US history

The scam, which was reported to have taken place between November 2003 and May 2013, was the largest lottery scam in US history. [caption id="attachment_16224" align=aligncenter width=640]

Eddie Tipton rigged the lottery in his favour (Des Moines Register)[/caption]A recent lawsuit saw a settlement worth $4.3m.Millions of people lost out on money thanks to the scam. It took place across 33 US states as well as the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.

No proof of purchase required to claim

Those in charge of settling refunds have said that proof of ticket purchase is not required to make a claim of up to 10 non-winning tickets. However, verification may be requested in some circumstances to prevent further fraud.This all dates back to the computer-assisted scam carried out by Eddie Tipton. Mr Tipton worked as an IT director for the Multi-State Lottery Association in Urbandale, Iowa.

Lottery scammer hijacked drawings

The lottery scammer set up a secret code on the number-generating computer software in 2005, which allowed him to narrow the odds for winning. His code meant that his odds of winning went from 1 in 5 million down to only 1 in 200. Mr Tipton got away with his scam for years and used it across the USA. His fraudulent lottery wins totalled over $24 million. In 2017, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.The lottery association is now settling with those players who bought tickets for games which were hijacked by Mr Tipton’s software. They have always denied any knowledge of wrongdoing and stated that they no longer use any of the computer programs designed by the lottery fraudster.