{"id":9308,"date":"2012-04-27T06:00:51","date_gmt":"2012-04-27T11:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sequenceinc.com\/fraudfiles\/?p=9308"},"modified":"2012-04-22T21:44:46","modified_gmt":"2012-04-23T02:44:46","slug":"lottery-fraud-increase-your-chances-of-winning-the-lottery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sequenceinc.com\/fraudfiles\/lottery-fraud-increase-your-chances-of-winning-the-lottery\/","title":{"rendered":"Lottery Fraud: Increase Your Chances of Winning the Lottery"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Recently, the $656 million prize offered in the Mega Millions lottery<\/a> gave charlatans an opportunity to sell lottery players “secrets” to winning the lottery. One such guy was “author” Richard Lustig, who wrote the “book” “Learn How To Increase Your Chances of Winning The Lottery.”<\/p>\n

Lustig says he has figured out how to “increase your chance of winning” the lottery. He did a media tour to promote his book (more accurately, pamphlet<\/em>) which tells these secrets. Lustig’s “winning lottery method” was featured on programs such as ABC News and the Rachael Ray Show.<\/p>\n

Sadly, CNN Money got in on the craze and aired a video featuring Lustig. That video was later removed from CNN’s website after a firestorm of criticism<\/a>. A CNN spokesperson said:<\/p>\n

“The CNNMoney newsroom takes great pride in its journalism, with consistently high standards for reporting. This video fell short of that mark and we\u2019ve chosen to remove it from our site.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Richard Lustig, and people like him, are lying if they’re telling people you can beat the system. The only way to increase your chances of winning is by buying more lottery tickets. Any other scheme for selecting numbers will not increase your chances, period.<\/p>\n

Lustig says you should believe him, and not the rational people who are telling you the truth about numbers, probability, and the lottery. Since he’s supposedly won seven lottery grand prizes, he uses that as confirmation that his system works. But Felix Salmon at Reuters correctly points out<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Richard Lustig is a get-rich-quick hack with no idea at all of how to beat any lottery. Yes, he\u2019s won an impressive number of jackpots. But he also advises that one third of all your winnings should be \u201creinvested\u201d into lottery tickets \u2014 which means that he\u2019s betting an enormous amount of money every week. He never gives any indication of what his ROI is; indeed, he never actually comes out and says that he\u2019s a net winner. Neither can I see any indication that all the money he\u2019s gambling is his own.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Tips For Winning the Lottery<\/strong><\/p>\n

But Richard Lustig’s tips for winning the lottery are a scam<\/a>. The bad “tips” provided by lottery hucksters often include:<\/p>\n