664 Winners of 2nd Prize in Lotto... "Is It Rigged?"
Suspicions of Manipulation Spread to Online Donghaeng Lottery
With 665 second-place winners in the 1057th Lotto draw, controversy is growing as it has been revealed that similar IDs have won a total of 329 times over the past five years.
On the 4th, Donghang Lottery, the operator of the Lotto, announced that the winning numbers for the 1057th Lotto draw were '8, 13, 19, 27, 40, 45'. There were a total of 17 first-place winners, each receiving 1,616,070,000 KRW. The number of second-place winners, who matched five winning numbers plus the bonus number '12', reached 664.
Among the 665 second-prize winners of the 1057th Lotto draw, it has been reported that similar IDs have won a total of 329 times over the past five years, sparking controversy. The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. [Photo by Moon Honam, Asia Economy]
Not only was the number of winners unprecedented, but it also drew attention that 103 of the second-place winners came from the same sales outlet. Purchasing 103 tickets would cost a total of 103,000 KRW, and since each person can only buy up to 100,000 KRW per draw, it is unlikely that all second-place winners are the same individual. Nevertheless, it became a hot topic that a winner from one sales point received nearly half of the first-place prize money, amounting to 710,275,640 KRW.
Some have raised suspicions, noting that "the number of second-place winners is excessively high, and besides the 103 second-place winners from one location, there are other cases of duplicate winners."
Donghang Lottery IDs in the format 'jun**number' won a total of 329 times over 5 years
As suspicions of manipulation in the Donghaeng Lottery continued, a netizen asked the Donghaeng Lottery team, "Among the electronic lottery winners, the 'jun**' ID has a really large number of winning entries. Why is it always the same person winning large amounts? There is a 100,000 won limit per account, so statistically, it doesn't make sense." [Image source=Online Community]
In response to this rare case, various online communities posted articles titled "Donghang Lottery winners who all appear to be the same person." The original poster, Mr. A, claimed, "From January 21, 2018, to January 21, 2023, IDs in the format 'jun**number' won a total of 329 times."
The IDs mentioned by Mr. A are combinations of 'jun**' plus a number ranging from 0 to 9, leading to speculation that the IDs might be reused. The user with this ID reportedly won lottery prizes ranging from a minimum of 100,000 KRW to a maximum of 500 million KRW weekly through electronic lottery tickets.
Additionally, a post by the user with the ID 'jun**2' stating, "It's been a while since winning first and second place in the 2022 Pension Lottery. Enjoy it modestly," was captured, spreading the fact that he also won the Pension Lottery.
Netizens who saw this expressed skepticism, saying things like "Is this even possible statistically?", "This must be rigged," "Suspicious," "I've always suspected manipulation," "Donghang Lottery has a daily purchase limit of 100,000 KRW; did they create multiple IDs because it wasn't enough?", and "Is that even possible?"
However, some argued that "If someone consistently buys a lot of lottery tickets, it could be possible," suggesting it might be a coincidence.
One netizen asked Donghang Lottery, "Among electronic lottery winners, there are many 'jun**' ID winners, but why is it always the same person winning large amounts? With a 100,000 KRW limit per account, it doesn't make sense statistically."
In response, Donghang Lottery explained, "For the protection of winners, the IDs of high-prize electronic lottery winners are abbreviated. The ID is shortened to 'the first 3 characters + ** + the last character' of the account, regardless of the length of the ID. Therefore, please note that all winner IDs are abbreviated to six characters for your reference."
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