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(Investigator 22, 1992 January)
Why would anyone
spend
$5000 for a full-page
ad offering to make you a millionaire? Compassion?
About 200 win at
lotto
systems have been
offered in Australia in the past 10 years!
Full-page win-at-lotto ads appeared in Australian tabloids and women’s magazines since 1987 and smaller ads much longer. The "lucky"
numbers are
usually calculated
from astrology and numerology – both scientifically discredited. Some
scheme
operators claim their system is mathematically sound but such claims
are
bunk since random numbers cannot be predicted. In lotto all marbles
have
an equal chance of being drawn. The odds of selecting six marbles out
of
44 is:
44 x 43 x 42
x 41 x 40
x 39
Some ads require
that
winners let the scheme
operators use their name and photo. However, no millionaires seem to
have
been produced in five years!
A Trade
Practices
Commission spokesman said
the Commission received 1,000 complaints from people who didn't win the
"millions" promised in ads! In all cases the money-back guarantees were
not honoured! (The Advertiser, 1989, January 25)
A $5000 ad
requesting $2
for information
on lucky numbers would break even – allowing for postage and printing –
if about 10,000 people responded. In some cases you get an outline of
the
scheme for your $2 but not the numbers to play it. These will cost
perhaps
$30 extra.
If 10,000 people purchase their alleged lucky numbers a few will win more than they lose. However, this will also be the case if the 10,000 people all guessed numbers for themselves and saved their $2 or $30! Lotto results cannot be predicted because all numbers have an equal chance of being drawn! Some operators
offer a
"double your money
back guarantee" if no major prize results in four weeks. Such
operators,
however, will usually have moved on when four weeks are over!
Some "rip-off
merchants"
have been prosecuted.
One in South Australia was fined $2,000. (The Advertiser, 1989,
February
1)
The S.A.
Lotteries
Commission had an income
of $203 million in 1989/1990 of which X-Lotto accounted for 47%.
(M)
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