Illinois Lottery Winners Get Stiffed When State Checks Don’t Cash
January 5, 2012 6:31 PM
Illinois Lottery (Photo by Tim Boyle/Getty Images)
Their checks, totaling $159,000 in lottery winnings, were no good.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller reports
Two days after Christmas, Maureen Furio of Lake Zurich bought an instant scratch-off ticket and won $1000. The next day, she got a check from the lottery.
“I deposited it the same day and went ahead and paid some extra Christmas bills,” Furio says. “And Jan. 3, it bounced.”
“Not bounced … returned,” says Mike Lang, spokesman for the Illinois Lottery. He says lottery officials failed to key in the required security verification on the checks issued on Dec. 28.
“We apologize for the inconvenience that these players have incurred,” Lang says.
Lang says Furio and the 84 other winners who tried to get their winnings but couldn’t can re-submit the checks. He says the state lottery will reimburse them for any bank fees.
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Bonnie BigBaby Bankhead
Att least they got a check to cash. I was sent to the State Comptroller’s office because eff. 10/15/11, the State lottery will send your winnings to the agency if you owe child support, delinquent student loans, taxes, public aid overpayment, etc. My SSN was flagged for Illinois Student Scholarship Commission student loans that were consolidated in 2010 w/the U.S. Dept of Education. When I called the lottery to tell them I didn’t owe the money, I was told to contact ISSC. When I did and they said my balance was zero, Illinois Lottery told me they send the money downstate who sends it to ISSC. When ISSC gets the money, they will refund the money to me. 2 agencies, 4-6 weeks each. So…if MY SSN was flagged erroneously, how many others are? Who at the Illinois Lottery verified the information or asked for reverification before flagging SSNs? I won my money the beginning of Dec. $1000. I cashed it in a week later, the week before Christmas and got a nice letter telling me they took my money while I was in the Niles lottery office. I wish the news would research that and put them on blast for that because I am still waiting for MY winnings! Oh, did I mention? Illinois Lottery don’t handle their own complaints. You are directed to an agency that handles complaints & It’s been 3 weeks since I filed, haven’t seen my check yet but received emails telling me it was sent to the dept looking into it & they will be getting back to me. Can the news investigate that?
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