How One Man Rigged The Lottery And Won 5 Times Before Finally Getting Caught

It all started with a joke told by a colleague and it eventually led to one of the biggest crimes in the history of US lottery. At the time, Eddie Tipton was working as a software programmer and IT security head for Iowa’s Multi-State Lottery Association when company accountant Gene Schaller suddenly quipped “Hey, did you put your secret numbers in there?”

The thought then planted an idea in Tipton’s mind. Yes, he can actually write a code that could rig the lottery draw if he wanted – and he began working on it soon thereafter.

From 2005 until his arrest in 2015, Eddie Tipton scammed the lottery and won 5 times.

With his code, he was able to boost his chances of winning to 200 to 1, compared to the usual 5 million to 1. He rigged the system specifically for lottery draws on the dates of May 27, November 23, and December 29 each year.

Suspicions finally arose when Tipton himself bought a lottery ticket on December 23, 2010.

Prior to that, he always asked other people to purchase tickets for him such as his brother Tommy Tipton who also walked away with the prize money of $568,990 in November 23, 2005.

As a News.com.au report further tells us:

“Mr Tipton told his close friend Robert Rhodes that he would be able to claim the prize, and Mr Rhodes waited until just hours before the deadline to claim the $21.5 million prize, more than a year later.

“Mr Rhodes tried to claim the money anonymously via attorneys who represented a trust, however, a local law dictated the winner’s identity must be made public, and three years later, investigators finally connected Mr Tipton to the fraud.”

By his own confession, he said he did it for the thrill – not merely for the money and yes, he did get away winning several times.

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