Bangkok: The Government Lottery Office has issued a warning to the public regarding the surge in scams involving counterfeit lottery tickets and altered numbers. Lieutenant Colonel Nun Sansanakom, Director of the Government Lottery Office, emphasized the importance of verifying the authenticity of lottery tickets to avoid falling victim to these fraudulent activities.
According to Thai News Agency, the Government Lottery Office is advising buyers to carefully examine their tickets by comparing them with genuine tickets from the same draw. Key indicators of authenticity include the thickness of the paper, the clarity of images and numbers, and specific security features such as the watermark of a mythical bird, Vayupaksa, visible under bright light, and a fluorescent silk thread under purple light. The office also recommends checking the orange anti-copy ink used for printing numbers, which should be clear to the naked eye, and performing a water test as real lottery numbers do not dissolve when wet.
The office further advises using tools like cameras or magnifying glasses to detect any alterations, such as pasted numbers or scratched-off sections, which may indicate tampering. The lottery tickets are printed using a quality system that meets the international standard ISO 9001:2015, making counterfeiting difficult. The office is urging claimants to be vigilant to avoid fraud.
For those seeking more information on verifying authentic lottery tickets, resources are available at www.glo.or.th. The Government Lottery Office warns that anyone using counterfeit or altered tickets to claim prizes will face criminal charges, including imprisonment for six months to five years and fines ranging from 10,000 to 100,000 baht. The office has dedicated staff to assist the public with verification queries, and they can be reached at the Verification Group, Prize Payment Office, by calling 0 2528 9641-44-515.