NCJ Number
84264
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 51 Issue: 7 Dated: (July 1982) Pages: 18-23
Date Published
1982
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Security for the Massachusetts multimillion dollar lottery covers entry into and activities in lottery headquarters, the making and drawing of tickets, the instant game lottery, and the daily numbers game.
Abstract
Security measures at lottery headquarters include closed-circuit television coverage of accesses to the building and hall and room cameras in high-security areas, identification badges for employees and visitors, an alarm system, and controlled access to high-security areas. Care has been taken to prevent the counterfeiting or alteration of the preprinted lottery tickets. All tickets that pay prizes above $25 must be returned to lottery headquarters for validation and processing. The drawing of the winning number is made secure through the use of a mechanical device that is protected from tampering. The instant game lottery provides that a player know whether his/her ticket is a winner simply by matching numbers or symbols on the card. A code number covered with latex on the ticket is filed in a computer to show that the number on the ticket is correct and unaltered. If the covering has been removed from the code, the ticket is invalid. Prevention of fraud was also a major objective in setting up the numbers game in 1976. Validation machines are used to stamp the slip with the name of the issuing store, the date, and a sequential code number identifying the machine and providing a chronology of the day's business. To prevent past-posting, a lottery employee picks up the slips each day and opens the validating machine and advances the date with a special instrument. The winner would have to be found on the numbers recorded. Security procedures have succeeded in frustrating efforts to defeat it. Five footnotes are listed.