I mean, when one of your jobs is to sell lottery tickets, and you steal more than half a million tickets, do you really think no one will ever notice?

Uh. Duh.

One of Deborah Strong’s duties as a Kroger customer service employee was refilling the lottery scratch-off ticket machine inside the company’s Westwood , Ohio store.

If any tickets were left over, she’d just stick them in her pocket.

But store officials, who reported her to police, said they believe Strong stole $530,000 in scratch-off ticket winnings since 2006.

According to news reports I’ve read,  Strong apparently used the money to fuel her gambling habit.

In court, Strong, 53, of Westwood, admitted she stole $189,000 worth of scratch-off tickets – and she could go to prison for up to five years for it.

Talk about a gambling addiction.

Strong reminded the judge that not all of those tickets were “winners.”

“A lot of them are losers,” Strong said. “It’s not like I got that much money.”

The judge wondered what she did with the money she won.

“It wasn’t like I had it at one time,” Strong answered. “I was taking some tickets every day, but it didn’t seem like $189,000.”

That’s because, she was talomg 500-ticket rolls.

Store officials said their investigation revealed the company lost $530,000 from Strong pocketing the tickets..

Strong had to steal at least $10,000 worth of tickets each month. “It fit in my pants pockets. It couldn’t have been that much,” Strong replied.

Strong was caught because some of the tickets were $5,000 and $10,000 winners.

When those are redeemed, the Lottery Commission requires the winners to submit their Social Security numbers.

After Kroger discovered in January it had a major lottery ticket theft problem, it compared the names of lottery winners’ who redeemed those big-cash winners with the names of their employees.

Strong’s name came  up.

This isn’t the first time Strong has been convicted of stealing, especially from employers.

When she is sentenced June 1,  Strong can be sent to prison for from one to five years.

It may have been news to the TV audience, but I’ve been talking about it for years.

Briefly, California man matched 5 of 6 numbers playing the Mega Millions game and that ticket he bought was worth about $500,000.

He didn’t know it.

He went to the store (his regular store) where he knew the lottery winning ticket was sold.

He asked the clerk to verify the ticket. It was a winner, the clerk said. A $4 winner. Man took the the $4.

Months later, the clerk cashed in a winning $500,000 lottery ticket.

He was eventually caught for his crime.

But it is a cautionary tale.

If you play the lottery, check your ticket numbers. I know a lot of you don’t, right away.

It’s a good policy to sign the back of your ticket.

If you win, it’s your money. Don’t let anyone else steal it from you.

LOTTERY GAMES I PLAY:

The August 4 Mega Millions game has an $84 million jackpot.
The August 5 Powerball game carries a $138 million jackpot.
The August 5 Canada Lotto 6/49 offers up a $35 million (Canadian dollars, $32 million, U.S.) jackpot.
And the August 7 Euro Millions jackpot has risen to 42 million euros, or about $59 million, in U.S. dollars.

Good luck to every lottery player around the world.

That’s a first clue. Folks, there ain’t no easy cash in the lottery business.

The scammers (using Colorado Lottery logos and a Denver mailing address) are contacting consumers through the mail, informing them that they¹ve won an unclaimed prize and asking them to call a number in Montreal to claim the winnings.

Their names, the letter claims, were drawn from databases culled from
Reader’s Digest, Publishers Clearinghouse, and Computer Games and
Sweepstakes. The letters also include a check for $2,150, which is meant to cover processing fees and will be deducted from an individual’s winnings.

The Colorado Lottery is urging people who receive that note not to cash the check. It is not an official Colorado Lottery check, and
cashing it may give a scam artist access to your personal bank account
information.

Colorado Lottery Director Jack Boehm, said “Consumers should
always be suspicious for offers of quick money, particularly if the deal
requires a winner to pay fees in order to collect a prize. The Colorado
Lottery never requires good faith money from its players.”

Players who receive the letter should disregard the check (and any
associated offers) and report the scam to the proper authorities.

Colorado put out the following tips to help consumers avoid falling prey to lottery scams:

1. Never reveal your credit card and bank account numbers to anyone unless you are certain the contact is legitimate, from a reputable company with whom you have a long-term relationship.

2. It is illegal for U.S. citizens to participate in foreign lotteries
through the mail, so throw away any letters claiming you¹ve won a large prize.

3. Be suspicious if you receive a winning notice for a drawing you never entered or purchased a ticket.

4. Never give money or valuables to a stranger.

I’ve devoted a full chapter on scams (and how to recognize them) in my recently published book, LOTTERY: A GUIDE TO AMERICAN LOTTERIES, by Rick Dandes (McAllister Books).

There are a lot of scam artists out there preying…particularly on senior citizens… so get the book, or at least go online and google lottery scams to learn more about it.

Don’t let these vermin crooks scam you out of your hard earned money.

99 percent of lottery books (and there are a fair number of them) fall into two categories. One, and by far the largest, are systems books. Lottery wheels, how to win, etc. The other, smaller category, are a few winners writing their autobiographies or scholarly analyses of the lottery business.

I set out to write an entertaining book that would appeal to both beginners and long-time players.

If you play the lottery a lot, as I do… it’s sometimes hard to believe that new players find it confusing. So I tried to do an easy to read how to play… and I cover games around the nation, many, you might not have heard of.

The largest part of the book is comprised of stories…hopeful winners stories. Those stories came from official lottery press releases and personal interviews I had with winners in my 10 years in the business.

YES, this is postive book about lotteries and I made no excuse for it.

100 million people play lotteries at least once a year.

They all want to win. This book is about many winners and I hope it inspires people to play, but play responsibly.

I also cover scams (and how to avoid them), lotteries in the movies (and how lotteries have been portrayed), lottery pools (and how to form them), the colonial history of lotteries, and many many other angles.

I really want people to enjoy the book.

It has just been released, and is now available at www.amcpub.com/lottery and may be ordered on www.amazon.com, though it will not be available for a few days.

Barnes and Noble soon. May also be ordered through bookstores.

GAMES WE PLAY:
No one won the Feb. 11 Powerball jackpot, which now rises to $92 million.

The winning numbers were 5,10,22,45,49 and the Power ball was 37.

3 tickets hit the first five numbers and each is worth $200,000. Those tickets were bought in Florida (2) and South Dakota.

22 tickets matched four of the first five numbers and the Power ball. Those tickets are each worth $10,000.

4 tickets matched four of the first five numbers and the Power ball and they Power Played their bet. Those tickets are each worth $20,000.

Friday night’s Mega Millions carries an $85 million jackpot.
Friday night’s Euro Millions draw offers a 15 million Euro jackpot.

Good luck, players.

Subtitle is, How to Play, Strategies and Stories of Winners.

It’s available at amazon and barnes and noble online and in store.

It’s kind of an everything-you-wanted to know about lotteries book.

If you google lottery books, you’ll find hundreds of books out there about the lottery, most of which are “how to win” books.

My friends, if a system worked for picking winning lottery numbers,

1. state lotteries would be out of business, and
2. I’d be living in Palm Beach mansion because I’ve been involved in the lottery business for almost 10 years and systems do not work. Increase your chances for winning, perhaps. I’ll buy that (and that’s in the book too…strategies), and this is not a bad thing. But guarantee winners? No.

The book is about hope. Something we all feel when we buy that instant ticket or put down a dollar for a chance to win $200 million.

Because it has happened to me just like you and me. Ordinary citizens.

The book has tons of funny and odd stories about odds-defying wins.

And strategies.

And history of the lottery.

And how to watch for scams.

And how to form a pool.

And much much more.

I’m no scam artist. Hundreds of millions of people play the lottery.

This is a fun, entertaining and for some educational read.

I hope you’ll consider buying it.

Of course, anyone who reads this post on a regular basis…just email me and we’ll see about sending you autographed copies.

In closing…. I hope you win millions. Then you can be IN my next book, not just a reader of it.

Now, we all know that systems don’t work. If they did, lotteries wouldn’t be the billion dollar business they are.

But what if someone actually devised a winning system? Is it possible?

Or does the player just play a lot, so he wins a lot.

Over the 10 years I’ve been covering the business I have met some extraordinarily lucky people who have won multiple times, and I must say, not all of them play a lot. Some do, sure. I interviewed a player the other day who won $100,000…and has won multiple times before, but he plays $20 a day. To a gambler, that’s not a lot of money, but to most folks, $20 a day is beyond what they can afford.

But, to the case at hand.

The Colorado Lottery launched an investigation into a repeat winner and his self-described “system” for winning the Cash Five jackpot again and again.

Officials don’t think he’s cheating. Tadeusz Krupa may just being winning because he plays so often.

Krupa splits his time between two modest homes.

His Fort Lupton home office is sparsely furnished: a few chairs, a computer, some papers scattered about the floor and a kitchen pantry filled with stacks of lottery tickets, noted a reporter from Channel 9.

The multitude of tickets, along with luck, are the only valid explainations for Krupa’s winning ways, say lottery officials.

The Colorado Lottery investigated when other lottery players complained that Krupa and his immediate family had won $1,000 or more in Colorado’s Cash 5 game a total of 21 times since December 2007.

21 times.

His $158,000 haul, before taxes, includes seven $20,000 jackpots.

“We know that this gentlemen didn’t scam the system,” said Colorado Lottery Deputy Director Tom Kitts.

“It was just an unusual occurance,” said Kitts. “My best guess is this gentlemen and his family probably play quite a bit… there’s been an incredible streak of luck here as well.”

“I have a system,” said Krupa. When asked what it was, he said, “It is up here,” tapping his forehead.

“If anyone claims to have a system, they may believe they have a system, but we certainly don’t believe there is such a thing,” said Kitts.

Krupa says he searches for “winning numbers” on the Internet, then fills out thousands of playing tickets by hand. Store clerks say Krupa has been known to buy thousands of dollars worth of tickets a week.

Krupa claims he has won more than he has spent. There is no way to prove it.

Krupa was nonchalant when asked about the idea of luck.

While he plays thousands of number combinations at a time, Krupa says he has a set of “lucky numbers”, and offered to share them if anyone is interested: 8, 12, 16, 22 and 27.

It’s an unusual story. And while I think the winnings are accountable through sheer number of plays, I have met people who have won more than 21 times, mostly playing the Pick 3 and Pick 4 “street” number games.

In my upcoming book I devote an entire chapter on strategies. I do think strategies are fun ways to play, and I personally play hot and cold numbers, but in the end, I do not think strategies can guarantee anyone a win.

Luck does.

And…dare I say it? …. God coming down and touching you with good fortune. I can think of no other explanation.

In last night’s Powerball game I organized an office pool (I work at a newspaper), so we had 14 chances to win something…anything… we quick picked all the games and won nothing.

Oh, well.

You comments on systems? Do you know of any systems that work for you or someone you know?

Please let me know.

According to police records, the Israelis conned mainly New York seniors out of more than $2 million.

The crooks worked out of a “boiler room” in Israel, where they cold called seniors, convincing them to wire as much as $40,000 to Israel to claim nonexistent sweepstakes prizes.

According to the Post, the scam artists targeted senior citizens, who were told that the calls were coming from a New York law firm and that the wire transfers were taxes and fees that needed to be paid before the winnings could be released, according to a police complaint charge sheet issued in Manhattan federal court.

More than 10 victims were given a US toll-free number to call and told not to tell anyone about the prize drawing, prosecutors said.

This is a very typical lottery scam.

The money was allegedly wired via Western Union to accounts at Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim and Union Bank between September 2007 and this month, said the police complaint sheet.

It was the largest number of Israelis ever held on a single extradition request.

“Cooperation between law enforcement and prosecutors’ offices here and in Israel has made clear that borders provide no safe haven for such fraudulent schemes,” Michael Garcia, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York.

The Tel Aviv Fraud Division of the Israel Police, the Justice Ministry and the Tel Aviv District Attorney’s Office all participated in the investigation.

The suspects were detained by Israeli authorities on September 9 and 11.

If they are sent to the US, each defendant will face two counts of committing wire fraud through telemarketing and one of conspiracy to commit fraud. They could be sentenced up to 30 years in prison if convicted of all charges.

One suspect, named Shai Kadosh, is still at large, police said.

In my upcoming book on Lotteries I devote an entire chapter on scams and how to avoid them. Senior citizens, unfortunately, are the all too often targets of these criminals.

It is one of my main goals, to keep an eye out for scams.

To keep you safe.

We all love playing the lottery. Unfortunately, there are criminals out there ruining it all, preying on the unsuspecting.

If you think you are being scammed, please let me know and I’ll investigate.

In the Money:

Tonight’s Powerball jackpot is $15 million.

We are still waiting to see who, in New Mexico, owns the one winning ticket worth $206.9 million.

There were no jackpot winners in last night’s Mega Millions drawing, but five players matched the first five balls and each won $250,000. The numbers were 9,30,35,39,49 and the Mega Ball was 36. The winning tickets were bought in Illinois (2), Michigan, New York and Texas. Friday’s Mega Million jackpot rolls up to $42 million.

Good luck.

First you receive an interesting bit of mail through the post.  It will probably some from an entity such as the Ethiopian Lottery Commission. Just like the e-mail, it would say that you have won the lottery, though you didn’t join it at all.  At this point your interest wouldn’t be that piqued.  Yet here is the thing, the mail would include a bank draft for several thousands of dollars.  Now they have you.

The letter would go on to say that this is merely the “advance” on your winnings of the jackpot.  Yet in order to get the total amount, you would have to pay handling fees and taxes amounting to say, 2/3 of the advance winnings.  The instructions would tell you to deposit the attached bank draft and then transfer the fees to another bank account.  You would probably be thinking, not a problem.  That is true, until you have transferred the fees and then receive news that the bank draft has bounced – it is a fake.

Again, bear in mind that you can never win a lottery that you have not joined!  Legitimate lotteries do not ask you for upfront fees - they deduct these from your winnings.  Your best possible course would be to report that piece of mail to the authorities OR ignore it.

E-mails
This is very very common today, with people from all corners of the earth receiving e-mails almost on a daily basis.  The subject will usually be something about you winning a large amount of money in an African lottery.  It will then be from someone with an official sounding title.  So far so good, eh?  Well, here comes the scam.  In order for you to receive your winnings, you have to send them details about your bank account – essentially allowing the to draft all the money out of it.  Either that or they will ask you to wire money as the courier fee.  This can range from hundreds of pounds to a thousand or so.

Now before you get scammed, stop and think.  How could you have won in the Nigerian lottery in the first place?  Have you ever joined their lottery?  The simple truth is you cannot win if you didn’t join.  Period.  Now check their e-mail account.  It is probably yahoo or hotmail isn’t it?  Now why would a lottery use a free e-mail account?  Because it is virtually untraceable.

The next time you receive something like this e-mail, the smartest thing for you to do is to mark it as spam and delete it.

(to be continued)