California Lottery Disregards Ticket Purchased Through Courier Service
Purchasing a California Lottery ticket from an online lottery messenger service could result in your winnings being invalidated. Even if you strike it rich, you could still end up empty-handed, as stated by Lottery officials recently.
In the meantime, the Lottery has issued warnings to its 23K ticket sellers, warning them that dealing with lottery messenger services might lead to the termination of their contracts.
These messenger services are third-party companies that sell tickets online through mobile apps. They fulfil orders from customers by purchasing tickets in bulk from licensed retailers. The service handles the process of collecting and distributing winnings to their customers.
Legal in New York and New Jersey
Messenger services are unregulated and operate in many states, but only two, New York and New Jersey, have licenses and regulations for companies like Lotto.com, The Lotter, and JackPocket. These companies must comply with regulations such as age verification and responsible gambling measures.
While some states tolerate messenger services, California does not, and has been particularly vocal in its criticism. In a recent statement, Lottery spokesperson Carolyn Becker stressed that such services are illegal in the state.
“...[W]e are grateful for the support of our retail partners in helping our customers play safely, rather than exchanging money with a third-party, unregulated business. Any California Lottery player who buys their games through an online messenger service is not eligible to win,” she added.
The Lottery stated that it is forbidden by law to pay out a prize on any ticket purchased online.
Delivering Your Lottery Tickets
Messenger services operating in California claim that what they are doing is not illegal. They merely purchase tickets from licensed retailers on behalf of others, just as you might do for a friend or family member, they assert.
In May last year, one messenger service, Mido Lotto, told NBC 4 Los Angeles that it “does not sell Lottery tickets, much like DoorDash and UberEats do not sell food.”
There is no law banning our services, but at the same time, the [California] Lottery has no authority to offer these services and cannot authorize or endorse what we do, and we have no formal affiliation with them,” Mido Lotto added. “We welcome greater oversight to provide the Lottery with increased visibility into our operations and greater assurance to our customers…”
Becker told NBC that the Lottery had never had to invalidate a jackpot claim on a ticket purchased by a messenger service, but she added that this was a possibility for the future.
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