Lottery Moments

Many believe that lotteries, a game of chance that involves the random drawing of numbers, cannot be rigged; however, there have been instances where investigations have proven that this too can be fixed.

In the late 1990s, it was discovered that the results one of the many lotteries held in Italy, was rigged. The organizers, in order to increase credibility of the game’s impartiality, ask blindfolded children to draw the winning numbers. However, investigators found out that this ruse is flawed. The blindfold used to cover the eyes of the children did not completely block out the child’s sight. These “faulty blindfolds” afforded the children a degree of vision (not complete vision) – vision that’s enough for them to discern one thing from another. To aid the children, the hollow metal balls used in the lottery are shined, with the balls that correspond to the desired winning numbers, buffed to a very high gloss. These balls would be shinier and feel smoother to the touch. After the numbers have been drawn, the children are given a toy or candies and asked to keep quiet. The police believe that key members of the organizers are involved in this scandal and, even the children asked to draw the numbers, are remotely related to employees of the organizers.

Inspectors believe that the cheating started out as a low-key operation but spiraled out of control when the local mafia found out about it and wanted to be part of the syndicate. Although many have been arrested, many others have managed to flee the city and may still be rigging lotteries in other nearby Italian cities. At that time, investigators believe that the rigging has been going on for over a decade.

Today, lottery organizers, both government and non-government run alike, strive to bring back the confidence of consumers. They have employed various precautionary measures such as weighing or measuring the balls used to ensure that all are of equal size and weight. In addition, not only do they televise the selection of the numbers, the process requires very minimal human interaction. The winning numbers are also no longer drawn by human hands. The selection of numbers is done either by computer or other mechanical methods. The confidence of people on lotteries and on lottery organizers is slowly returning but it may take some time before people can feel secure about lottery activities and their results.