ATLANTA – Georgia Lottery Corp. officials are reminding consumers to purchase lottery tickets only from authorized lottery retailers to avoid a Scratchers scam. With the scam, scratch-off tickets are altered to look like “winning tickets” and sold at a discount to players who later discover they were scammed when attempting to claim the prize.
“We always want our players to be informed and be aware,” Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin said. “If you ever have questions or concerns, we encourage you to give us a call.”
Georgia Lottery players can avoid this scam as follows:
- Only purchase Georgia Lottery tickets from one of the over 8,500 official Georgia Lottery retailers located in the state of Georgia. Georgia residents also can purchase tickets via the Georgia Lottery app or online at galottery.com.
- Never pay cash to someone offering to sell a “winning ticket” – no matter what their story or excuse may be.
- If approached by someone offering a “winning ticket” for cash, refuse the offer and contact the Georgia Lottery immediately.
The Georgia Lottery’s security team ensures the integrity of its games and can investigate who purchased lottery tickets, and when and where tickets were purchased. Anyone involved in lottery scams could be subject to criminal charges.
Georgia Lottery players with questions or security concerns can call the Player Information Hotline toll free at 1-800-GA-LUCKY (1-800-425-8259).
Additional information is located on the Georgia Lottery website at https://www.galottery.com/en-us/player-zone/avoid-lottery-scams.html.
Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corp. has returned more than $20 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs, including Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia’s Pre-K Program. More than 1.8 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1.6 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.
For more information on the Georgia Lottery Corp., please visit: