Concerns raised over new way to play lottery, claim winnings
There's a new app on the market called Jackpot.com where you can virtually purchase your lottery tickets.
The idea is to deposit however much money you'd like, pick your numbers or have them randomly selected for you and then Jackpot.com will purchase the ticket on your behalf.
The app takes a fee of 15 percent of your deposited funds before buying your tickets and then if you win and the prize money less than 600 dollars, it's credited to your account.
Valley natives like James Vaughn brought his concerns to 21 News, curious about the legitimacy of the app.
"My question is if you hit a million dollar jackpot, how're you gonna get your money," said Vaughn. "That's like me giving you my money saying go down to the store and buy me a power ball ticket and if I win bring it to me and if I don't win, throw it away. Am I guaranteed you're gonna give me my ticket," he said.
The app's CEO, Akshay Khanna says customers will absolutely receive their winnings.
"If it's more than 600 dollars, we store your ticket for you in fire proof safes and you can either choose to come and collect your ticket from our location or we will mail your ticket to you insured, heavily insured or we will drive the ticket to you," Khanna said.
The Ohio Lottery issued a statement that reads:
"There's nothing in the revised code that prevents courier companies from operating in Ohio, however the Ohio lottery does not support, endorse, condone, encourage, recommend, or approve of the use of couriers or their applications, which are not affiliated with the Ohio Lottery. Because the applications are not authorized or licensed, the Ohio Lottery cannot guarantee the validity of purchases made via these applications or that appropriate payment will be made to players for tickets redeemed through these applications. Accordingly, the Ohio Lottery will not be liable for the actions or omissions of these private courier companies, nor will it be liable for their nonpayment or underpayment of any lottery prize."
Khanna says security isn't an issue, though.
"Our employees print and scan and store those tickets so within 30 minutes or so of your purchase of the lottery ticket, you actually get a notification saying you can view your ticket," Khanna said.
Khanna says his app removes the hassle of having to leave your home, keep up with your lottery tickets or remembering to check them.