are lottery scratchcards safe to buy?

[Detector]

just been to buy a scratchcard from my local shop (was getting some bits in, not just the scratch card) and I noticed the shop keeper getting the one I wanted from a pile underneath the display case, this looked proper dodgy but I never said anything. the card looked as if it had been bent over. this got me thinking, how safe do you think lottery scratch cards are for us as consumers, is there any way that the retailer could find out if they are winners? I would like to hear other peoples views on this before i post my own







anyone else have any ideas on how they could cheat the system? once everyone else has made their thoughts known ill tell you how it CAN be done by just about anyone

[Ganty]

Aren't normal lotto tickets just barcode scanned to see of they're a winner? If so then the same probably applies to scratch cards.

[davey52]

I think the winning code is hidden until scratched off, the barcode can't be an indicator of winning card, that would be too easy surely.
The code from the card has to be entered before any payout is done
Normal tickets are printed to order, therefore have a unique barcode.

[Geko]

Your odds aren't good either way. Whether from the top or the bottom, or even the middle.

[evilsatan]

Bent over as in a fold or as if it had been stored in a roll of them? When they are in the dispenser they are in a roll so there is usually a curve to them. Can't see how they can cheat the system as I believe you have to scratch off a panel to reveal the code to type into the machine, I don't think they can scan the barcodes to see if they are winners and even if they could they would be expected to pay for the ones that aren't winners.

All I can think of is if you can tell a winner by scanning it but have to then validate it by scratching the panel off you could scan them and put the losers aside to sell to the next punter asking for one. You would need to be in an outlet that sells them quickly as I would imaging the national lottery monitor sales behaviour.

[Fon]

Snide cards would be easy enough to make, and more profitable than paying camalot for them.

Fon

[Lighty]

All you need is a TRB9020H but they are £22,000 so not a very profitable business
Seriously though there are algorithms to lottery cards, there has to be, they control how often somebody wins surely. Thing is the lottery is just another tax on the poor if you ask me, as far as betting odds go its one of if not the worst odds you can get, except the national lottery thats even less but at least thats for the chance of a big prize, ive only ever seen £2,£5 and £10 won on a scratch card

[Detector]

@lighty you got it buddy. portable variable xray will be enough to see the winning numbers under the protective layer.

[Rhinoz]

Back in the 80's when the lottery started me and 2 mate's bought 30 of the scratchcards from a shop, we put a tenner each in to see the odds, I know it's not enough to get a real grasp of the odds but we won exactly £15 back, never bought one again.

If the odds are really that bad your better off playing a fruit machine...... maybe that's an idea, wait until customers in front of you buy some, scratch and throw them away then buy some and maybe you'll have more of a chance to win lol.

[BigBird]

The shopkeepers brother isn't the local vet by any chance. Or possibly a drinking buddy of his. Maybe they are slightly bent from carrying them in his pockets over to his brother's/buddy's place to use the x ray machine. (">

[evilsatan]

Seriously though there are algorithms to lottery cards, there has to be, they control how often somebody wins surely.

I would imagine they just tell the machine how many of each prize to print and let that randomly print them so there is no algorithm linking serials to wins. They may use an algorithm to ensure the prizes are spread out well though but I highly doubt you can tell a winner by looking at the serial numbers.

Would be cool to test that machine on one, if it worked then you could make a killing, would be worth opening a shop in an area that would sell them quickly and having the machine hidden in place.

[neilb]

Back in the 80's when the lottery started me and 2 mate's bought 30 of the scratchcards from a shop, we put a tenner each in to see the odds, I know it's not enough to get a real grasp of the odds but we won exactly £15 back, never bought one again.

If the odds are really that bad your better off playing a fruit machine...... maybe that's an idea, wait until customers in front of you buy some, scratch and throw them away then buy some and maybe you'll have more of a chance to win lol.

There was a case a while ago where a shopworker scratched off an entire roll using the logic that he was bound to be up at the end and would then pay for the cards and keep the rest. If I remember correctly he won about £40. Could be wrong on the amount but he was way off the cost of the tickets and ended up being arrested.

[Geko]

When I was 16 my mate worked in Balfour. He nicked about 50 scratch cards every week. (Along with tons of fags, cash and magazines). He only usually won a tenner.

After a year they installed a hidden camera. He got caught stealing 10k worth of goods in 2 weeks. You don't see many Balfour shops these days. I like to think my mate helped with that.

[EvilBoB]

Don't scratchcards have to be scanned into the system to be activated now?

I remember when they first came out there was a shop owner who was scratching just a thin line through the barcode and scanning them to see if they are a winner. Of course he got done in the end.

[akimba]

Thing is the lottery is just another tax on the poor if you ask me

Its not a tax on the poor but a tax on the stupid ;-)

[beerman]

When I was 16 my mate worked in Balfour. He nicked about 50 scratch cards every week. (Along with tons of fags, cash and magazines). He only usually won a tenner.

After a year they installed a hidden camera. He got caught stealing 10k worth of goods in 2 weeks. You don't see many Balfour shops these days. I like to think my mate helped with that.

The irony of one of our mates nicking that amount and getting caught and another mate nicking some smarties from the pick and mix in Woolworths and getting caught.

[TAR]

Don't scratchcards have to be scanned into the system to be activated now?.

Yes they need to he activated first.

[NuMbNuTz]

There is also a 4 digit number under the scratch panel which you enter on the lottery machine after you scan the barcode on the back in order for the machine to payout.

[Lighty]

I would imagine they just tell the machine how many of each prize to print and let that randomly print them so there is no algorithm linking serials to wins. They may use an algorithm to ensure the prizes are spread out well though but I highly doubt you can tell a winner by looking at the serial numbers.

Would be cool to test that machine on one, if it worked then you could make a killing, would be worth opening a shop in an area that would sell them quickly and having the machine hidden in place.

There are pretty much algorythms for everything mate. Steven Hawkins once said theres no such thing as random, everything eventually has a pattern, if you think about it all you have to do is make it nowhere near profitable enough to be able to work it out and then nobody is gonna bother due to the large numbers involved.