New lotto security?
Posted Oct 12, 2010 06:47:35 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO – A membership card may be the Ontario lottery’s ticket to permanently stopping jackpot thefts by lottery retailers.
Lotteries in Australia and Norway have used membership cards for almost 20 years and officials say they have been successful.
Ticket buyers get a swipe card they use every time they buy.
If you’re a winner, the lottery office calls you and puts the money in your bank account.
The O-L-G says it will look at the pros, cons and costs of the system before deciding on whether to use it.
It says 9,000 lottery terminals in the province would need major upgrading to do it.
A spokesman for Norway’s lottery says cards eliminate the possibility of retailer theft.
Last month, three people in Ontario were charged with stealing a lottery ticket worth $12.5 million dollars.
