Ontario lottery tickets are singing a different tune

NEWS RELEASE

ONTARIO LOTTERY AND GAMING CORPORATION

************************* More protection for customer with new terminal messages and mandatory signing

(January 21)- New measures to protect Ontario lottery customers from fraud were announced today by Kelly McDougald, CEO of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG).

"We are determined to pay the right prize to the right customer," said McDougald. "That is why we continue to build on the many security measures already implemented with mandatory signing of tickets and new sounds and messages from the lottery terminals that help ensure no confusion between a customer and a retailer about whether a ticket is a winner or non-winner."

The new security measures are:

- Beginning on Monday, January 28, 2008 retailers are not allowed to validate a ticket unless the customer has signed it. A signature box is located on the front of all on-line lottery tickets such as Lotto 6/49. With Instant tickets, customers should continue to sign the back of those tickets until a new signature box on the front is introduced for Instant tickets in the coming months.

- Beginning January 22, 2008, new musical and voice alerts on all lottery terminals will help to instantly inform Ontario lottery players of the status of their ticket. Every time a ticket is validated, the lottery terminal now plays a new musical tune and a bilingual voice message, and displays a corresponding message on the customer-facing video screen. The tunes and voice messages alert players as to whether a ticket is a winner; a winner of a major prize of $10,000 or more; a non-winner; or if the ticket cannot be processed, etc.

Broadcast quality audio files and video B-roll demonstrating the new sounds/messages for a small win (under $10,000), a non-win and a big-win ticket validation will be available here at 2 p.m. today.

Since January 1, 2008, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) assumed its new role as the province's lottery regulator, and is now responsible for investigating insider and suspicious lottery wins as well as registering all lottery retailers in Ontario.

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