Security

Welcome to the Florida Lottery's Security web page. This area of the Florida Lottery's website will provide you with information about our secured daily Lottery Drawings; inform citizens how to avoid lottery Scams and advise visitors to the site when an Amber Alert is in effect. Thanks for visiting.

Lottery Drawings

The Florida Lottery drawings are conducted under strict security guidelines and procedures. A Lottery draw manager and an auditor from an independent auditing firm attend and participate in every drawing. These two individuals report to the draw studio at least 90 minutes prior to the actual drawing. The Lottery draw manager is employed by the Florida Lottery as a special agent and is a certified law enforcement officer. The draw manager and auditor complete a detailed checklist that thoroughly scrutinizes all aspects of each draw.

Lottery Scams

Every day, criminals find new ways to scam victims out of their savings. Many Floridians have fallen prey to con artists claiming to be Florida Lottery winners who are unable to collect their jackpots. The con artists offer to “sell” the winning ticket to the victim, or ask their victim to collect the money for them. When the victim agrees, they are asked for money or other valuables as a “deposit.” Once the con artists have the victim’s money, they disappear.

The Florida Lottery offers these helpful tips to avoid being scammed:

• NEVER redeem a Florida Lottery ticket for someone you don't know.
• NEVER give your credit card numbers over the phone to anyone promising Florida Lottery cash prizes or memberships.
• NEVER accept a collect phone call from someone claiming to be a Florida Lottery official.
• NEVER respond to a letter or phone call from someone who offers you a guarantee of winning a prize. The Florida Lottery does not guarantee you a prize, only a chance of winning if you buy a legal ticket.
• ONLY participate in a "lottery pool" with people you trust. If you have questions about "lottery clubs", please call the Florida Lottery Division of Security at (850) 487-7730.
• ONLY buy Florida Lottery tickets from authorized retailers. Call your local Florida Lottery District Office for the location of a retailer near you.

For information regarding scams that target the elderly and how to avoid them, please visit the Elder Consumer Protection Program website at elder.law.stetson.edu.

Cross Border Fraud

More and more, scammers are reaching across national borders to commit their crimes. Cross-border fraud where false lottery prizes are used as lures has become one of the most serious problems within the lottery industry. With the technology available today, cross-border lottery scams are becoming more common than ever. To find out more about the schemes scammers use to steal large amounts of money and how you can avoid being a victim, please visit the OnGuardOnline.gov website.

Amber Alerts

The State of Florida has established the Florida Amber Plan to broadcast critical information regarding missing or abducted children. In 2002, the Florida Lottery joined as a partner in the Florida Amber Alert System in an effort to assist law enforcement agencies in child abduction cases. Time is of the essence in disseminating critical information regarding a missing or abducted child. The Florida Lottery, Division of Security, acts in a liaison capacity between the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), other Divisions within the Lottery and all Lottery Retailers.