Last Updated on: 19th October 2023, 07:38 pm

New York Lottery Ticket Fraud

Winning the lottery is a dream for many people. Who wouldn’t want to suddenly come into a huge amount of money? But sometimes, people try to illegally get their hands on lottery winnings through fraud. This article will explain what lottery ticket fraud is, the laws prohibiting it, penalties, recent examples, and tips for how to protect yourself.

What is Lottery Ticket Fraud?

Lottery ticket fraud involves illegally obtaining, claiming, or cashing in lottery prizes. There are many schemes scammers use:

• Using forged or altered tickets to try to claim a prize
• Stealing valid winning tickets and cashing them in
• “10 percenting” – Agreeing to cash in someone else’s winning ticket for a cut of the winnings
• Tampering with the lottery draw process to rig or fix the winning numbers
• Falsely telling people they won a prize and asking for money upfront to collect it (“advance fee fraud”)
• Selling fake lottery tickets to unsuspecting buyers

As you can see, lottery fraud comes in many forms. But they all involve illegally obtaining lottery winnings through deception, forgery, or theft. Next, let’s look at the laws prohibiting lottery fraud.

Laws Prohibiting Lottery Ticket Fraud

In New York, lottery fraud can be prosecuted under both state and federal laws. Here are some of the main statutes:

Federal Laws

• Mail Fraud – 18 U.S.C. §1341. Using the mail system to carry out a scheme to defraud. Punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
• Wire Fraud – 18 U.S.C. §1343. Using telephones, email, or electronic communications to commit fraud. Also punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

New York State Laws

• Grand Larceny – Stealing property worth over $1 million. Punishable by up to 25 years in prison.
• Scheme to Defraud – N.Y. Penal Law §§190.60, 190.65. Carrying out a systematic scheme to defraud or obtain property. Punishable by up to 4 years in prison.

Prosecutors can mix and match charges based on the specific facts of each lottery fraud case. Penalties tend to be higher under federal law. Now let’s look at the agencies that investigate lottery ticket fraud.

Investigating Agencies

Lottery fraud is pursued by both state and federal investigators:

• New York State Gaming Commission
• New York State Attorney General
• Local District Attorneys like the Manhattan DA
• U.S. Postal Inspection Service – for mail fraud
• FBI
• IRS Criminal Investigations – for tax evasion related to lottery winnings

With overlapping state and federal jurisdiction, lottery scammers face scrutiny from multiple agencies. The statute of limitations is generally 5 years for lottery fraud crimes.