Now replace "lottery" with "election."
Worried yet?
8
Good for Rob Sand, and may he go on to uncover more waste, fraud, and abuse.
And meanwhile, Donald Trump, Scott Pruitt, Ben Carson and who knows how many other kleptocrats have been given the keys to the US Treasury and there is no Rob Sand to hold them accountable.
5
In the very same way that lottery codes can be manipulated, so too can "voting machines" (solid state computing devices that record and tabulate the votes cast in many of our elections) be hacked. We are fools to believe that the results of elections are a true representation of the "will of the people." Until we go back to actually counting paper (card stock) ballots, our democracy is that in name only. In reality, political leaders are chosen by shadowy figures who control the algorithms that drive the balloting devices. President Tweetstorm was right when he complained during his campaign that the election was rigged.
5
To those who have objected to the title of the article, I would agree.
Typically the term "crack" is used to describe a process by which something which was designed to be secret is uncovered without any proprietary knowledge. Think of the Japanese military codes during WWII.
A person who has access to the code and the ability to alter it is a hacker, not a cracker.
Still, more than once I have seen a headline changed by an editor to say something that the author never intended to say because it is more likely to lure the reader.
3
"The man who rigged the lottery" would have been closer to the truth.
1
A person who gains access to the code and has the ability to alter it and does is a hacker, but that does not apply if you are the author of the program.
I would have been just as interested in this piece had the headline been "The Man who Rigged the Lottery" It was a terrific read but to think that all of the people who benefitted from this thievery got to keep the money and faced no consequence is sad.
The other group left out are the ones who were denied a much larger jackpot because the pot was cleared once the cheaters made off with the cash. If someone won the lottery a week or two later, the jackpot was shorted by the amount the crooks won.
It was not a hack or a crack. This guy wrote the software. You don't crack/hack something you yourself wrote. If John wrote lottery code, and Mary modified it to do malicious things, Mary hacked the software because she modified it to do what was not intended by the creator of the code.
If John wrote the lottery code and after an accountant says to him “Well, you know, you can set numbers on any given day since you wrote the software,” he edits HIS program to draw from a particular set of numbers on given days of the year, he is not hacking the software. He is rigging it.
In any case, this was a great read.
8
It is definitely a hack. Tipton did not write the entire code. He wrote a small DLL that made a call to the source program (that he didnt write) depending upon the day of the year. On those days of the year, the random seed that the source app was supposed to generate wasnt random. Its a hack.
1
The most astounding part of this tale is found in the first few paragraphs.
Am I alone in being astonished to learn that when you go the local gas station and buy a coke and lottery ticket, not only are you filmed but your conversation is also recorded and both are kept for years? Unbelievable!
10
Gee, I wonder if something like this could happen with an electronic voting machine.
5
I am loving the use of noir cartoon style in this and the other entries in the current issue of NYT Magazine.
5
Am I the only one who has noticed that the noir cartoons cover the last three paragraphs of the articles?
1
This reads like the makings of a Coen Brothers movie.
3
Excellent writing. Thank you!
4
Fascinating story, surely the stuff of a great movie or Netflix series. This guy is incredible, never greedy, always generous and so unlucky to get caught. Yes, he is a cheat and now must pay for his crime but wow, I play the lotto too and only wish!
1
I always felt disappointed when I would lose to a single winner (usually to a bowling team from Jersey or Ohio) whenever the Powerball or Mega Millions Lottery jackpot was huge, like $300 million or more. After reading this article, I REALLY feel like I've been had, knowing that a brainiac was able to rig the system so NO ONE but him or his family/friends were able to win and win BIG. Why hasn't any of that money from all of those people been returned? Not one of Tipton's friends or family members obtained this money
honestly.
Ever since the arrest and conviction of Eddy Tipton, have there been any safe guards or precautions put into place to prevent future tampering or rigging of the system? I'm glad this article was written and published in the NYT. I do believe going forward, my days of playing the lottery and hoping to hold the winning ticket in my hand hav just ceased to exist. Why play if the game could be possibly rigged? As Illinois' slogan goes, "You can't win if you don't play". I never thought it could actually mean, "Play or don't play - you'll never see the pay".
2
Regarding those who say that playing the lottery is for idiots etc - as long as you understand the chances of winning, and can afford it, it's cheap entertainment. Our weekly expenditure of $4 is easily accommodated within our budget, and even though our chances of winning are lower than getting murdered, it still makes for interesting conversations about 'what if' and entertaining ways to spend our never-to-be-won riches.
5
If in fact mthe article headline is accurate-that this or some person "cracked the lottery" it is a recapitulation of numerous pay to play offers on the net whicvh claim to have secret formulae with which they-and you too-can beat the odds.
But the article is never very clear how this guy actually pulled it off and whether he made really big money . It is one of those articles that begins in confusion and ends in worse -a mish mash of allegations and accusations. I know the lists of numbers are pretty complete and if anyone was somehow making off with more winnings then odds claim is possible that it would be public infor very quickly.
In the end, it tells the reader that gambling is still a sucker's bet. That unless you are in on the original crfeation of the winning numbers you ain't going to win but by accident. And that the rules and laws aabout no employees being eleigible to even play, much less win-make a lot of sense.
If only the poor folk would listen and not bet-we would all be a lot richer than we are.
But ther was no "cracking" of any secrets. It was, at best or worst, a crime and that's all. Put your money in the bank and save it-Compound interest may do what criminal activity won't-make you some money.
This story reminded me of the guys who tried to fix the betting in the Pick Six at the Breeders' Cup in 2002. After I read this I went and looked it up and found this article. Check out who is quoted in paragraph 3!
http://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-te.sp.picksix21nov21-story.html
2
Made for a movie.
1
A brilliant article!
1
nice ... !
I don't normally read crime stories - but this was a 'gripping' read - so I did it.
as an ex-computer programmer I'm also aware of how much more JAFLOC ('Just a few lines of code') could be out there with potential to do much more serious damage
as in - when push comes to shove - and China turns off the internet - and/or crashes our power stations and water pumping stations and/or air-traffic control systems, etc., etc.
2
When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and you argue about what to do about it only after you have had your technical success. That is the way it was with the atomic bomb.
J. Robert Oppenheimer
2
A missed angle on this story is what happened to GLI. How did they miss such a flagrant sloppy hack of the very heart of the lottery: its random number generator? They took the Lottery's money and did not do the job they were paid to do.
2
Where there's money, you'll find cheats, thieves, and shysters.
Even though this guy didn't shoot his way into an armored truck or burglarize a museum, he's still a big-ticket criminal who orchestrated many heists over a long time period, cheated other people out of their chance to win a big prize, and his motive was pure greed.
He should serve every minute of his sentence.
3
I never cease to be amazed at the intellectual/ethical hoops people are willing to jump through, as to justify hackers. I look through the comments here and I am appalled by those who would seemingly justify Tipton’s actions. Why is it that people seem so intent on glorifying the criminal actions of hackers? Do you want to reward the one who broke into your house or car and stole your things for being ‘clever?’ I don’t think so. Do you think the common thief who jacked you up and stole your wallet should be hired by the local PD, because he understands the criminal mind, and should be thusly rewarded? I don’t think so, again. Why do we, as a culture, think this way when it comes to hacking, which is JUST as legitimately, and heinously, a crime?
The industry is self-serving to the extreme, despite ‘conventional wisdom’ to the contrary. We see hackers as noble geeks, crusaders for the common good – in reality they are anything but; they are selfish scum. Hacking does NOT require any special skills; any moron can download and execute ‘script kiddie’ toys to pester people at best, or perhaps ruin lives at worst. The people who engage in such activity are poseurs for those who actually have talent; true experts doing don’t need to rob others, they are creating things, not stealing from others who do. Hackers are pathetic excuses for lame criminals, just like Tipton. He ‘cracked’ nothing; he wrote sorry code to rig the game – pettty criminal, not brilliant. No guru, no genius.
2
Bring back the starlet picking numbered balls from that air-blown container! Too low-tech for society - - the answer must always be more and more complicated tech which can only be overseen by specialized techies who then secretly enrich themselves because no one knows what they're doing. And then there are the electronic gaming machines in casinos, which have been secretly engineered to deceive people about the odds and so to lose money - - Anyway, the DA's office is lucky old-fashioned detective work allowed them to figure this one out.
2
With apologies for inserting a bit of Hollywood entertainment into a serious crime story -- the detective show "Monk" which ended about 10 years ago was extremely well-written and acted. One episode dealt with the fraudulent results of "the starlet picking numbered balls." The perpetrator had figured out how to work that system, too. Sigh.
1
Great story, good writing and good time lining. Dogged pursuit by a man with tech talents. I'm sure there's a huge amount of fraud out there especially with shell companies and foreign investment of criminal funds in both the US and Canada. The success of these fraudulent organizations exploit the social and economic fabric of our native countries.
3
What about those little golf ball thingys they show on TV? I thought that was how the numbers were chosen. (I don't play so don't pay attention.) Computer stuff can always be messed with.
3
Wonder if you could put together a class action suit against the lottery commission. A lot of people bought tickets to a rigged lottery.
1
Excellent reporting. Would make a great true to life movie.
2
In the fictional sequel, Tipton is put on the job (for the FBI or another agency) while in prison to catch other scammers. Of course, this will never happen, but it should. More and more, our archaic laws tend to mitigate against common sense in the name of security. Human intelligence has already been far outdistanced by machines. Frankenstein is running amok.
1
"after the code was approved by Gaming Laboratories International..."
What method do they use to review the code before approving? I'm guessing they don't actually look at the code...they need to test that it does what it is supposed to do, and ONLY what it is supposed to do. That second part is the rub!
1
I read this article again and a few things stand out.
1. There is no comment anywhere from the various Lottery Commissions that were affected, which is odd. I am sure the article writer asked for a comment from them, so the omission of any quote from them here is notable.
2. The affected lottery commissions would have preferred this crime to have been never solved. It makes the lotteries look rigged because in several instances as documented here, they absolutely were.
3. It is glossed in the article but there werent any laws broken by the friends and relatives who profited from the rigged lotteries. Yet it seems all of them knew their tickets were rigged because why would they buy 100 tickets at the behest of Tipton.
4. Similarly Tipton rigging the random number generator in a lottery is by itself not against the law (!). So the prosecution had to try for criminal theft. Tipton's first trial was thrown out. It was not until the investigator found more winners who knew Tipton that they accused Tipton again. In other words, Tipton almost entirely got away with it.
5. After all of this happening, there is no indication that the laws will be changed to make any of this lottery tampering illegal.
4
Can a similar procedure work in our electronic voting machines? Initially the owners of the machines claimed that the programs were private and could not be reviewed. Has that been changed?
4
Fascinating article.
No one can see into Tipton's mind but -- once caught -- his unwillingness to admit he did it because he personally profited from it is ridiculous. Tipton says he was simply curious if he could rig the system and it started as just theoretical search for an exploit. Impossible to believe.
From an IT perspective, it is not at all shocking that someone with coding access to these RNG computers could fiddle with the code on them.
3
"The stated odds of winning [hot lotto] were one in 10,939,383."
rigged numbers or not, lotteries are essentially voluntary taxation, and mostly regressive taxation for those who do not understand statistics. you can't lose if you don't play.
for the private sector, see casinos, which were also mentioned in the article, whose revenues are also taxed by state finance departments.
but perhaps it's better to have voluntary taxation than involuntary taxation.
1
Maybe but I recall the so called "illegal number games played by maybe half of all blue collar and many white collar New Yrokers, and they had a limited payout- it could not pay more than about $600 for every dollar bet. People would sometimes bet their pocket change-the pennies left over from some nocturnal run to obtain cigarettes and milk. Occasionally, a person might win and if they boxed the numbers-played them forward and backward-they won only 30 to 1 or so, but in gamblisng this was big money without breaking their bettor's backs.
The illegal numbers was a city institution-people would ask one another what today's number was and, if they didn't his it, they might bet oit tomorrow or the next day. Never in amounts which spent the milk and diaper money though.
Since the lottery systemds were taken over by businesses, they are in it to squeeze every penny from the suckers they can convince-this is why there is such interest among writers to catch the alleged winner-any evidence that such a thing was possible would end the very concept of legalized numbers betting. Good riddance, I say.
"Crooks" or runners ran cleaner, far more honest and fair operations then any big businesses coiuld or ever will.
If you are in a position to potentially game the system and pocket so much money, shouldn't you, as a condition of your employment, have to agree to near-constant surveillance and scrutiny? Monitoring of your bank accounts. Regular lie-detector tests. Tracking of your travel and phone records? To not have these kinds of safeguards in place seems like it is asking for trouble.
4
Yes but the lottery commissions have no legal compelling reason to do so, which is why they dont bother.
2
Are you suggesting that all banking, financial investment firms, retirement investment companies, IPO offerers, etc., be surveilled and scrutinized? You're so funny!
Years ago I worked for a company that installed hotel accounting software in big name hotels. One manager asked, "Can the employees use it to steal money?" The answer: "Only if they're smart enough."
3
Great read. But as a recent investigation into the Vt State Lottery showed, one doesn't need to go high-tech to game the system:
https://vtdigger.org/fullimagestory/more-than-luck/
4
And just last month the courts in Maine made it easier and legal for people to claim a lottery win without being named. Perhaps an investigation into that woman(whatever her name is) is in order. It was disgraceful the courts allowed her to claim it anonymously. At the very least, someone should sue to reveal her name.
5
that is a bizarre distortion of that case. The winner's name is known by the court system AND the lottery omission. It is only the public that doesnt know her name. Totally different than what happened with Tipton.
3
why is it disgraceful?
If we don't know who the winner is it could be another inside job. Like the family of the people who run the lottery could anonymously claim the prize. Who would know?
I have a question - the people who cashed in winning tickets that were given to them by Tipton, or who were given lists of numbers to pay and who consequently won - did they have to pay back the money they "won"? Or is it covered by Tipton's restitution. I think it's an interesting question that I'd like to have answered. Like the poor mother of 5 girls (I believe) - did they make her pay back the money that had probably been long since spent?
16
Apparently what they did was not illegal (accepting a winning ticket that is someone else's) but it is odd that the article does not say if the winnings have to be recovered from all "winners."
2
Mr. Klein, I was thinking the exact same thing. Even though those winners had no knowledge of Tipton's scheme, Tipton did manipulate the program so the tickets would win and pay out. Seems like a very interesting and uncharted world of criminality, possibly a variation on the "fruit of the poisonous tree" analogy. It's easy for me to say ALL of that money should be returned, but if I had one of those winning tickets, I might feel and act differetly.
1
Hi Rick- Rob here. Tipton's restitution covered all amounts retained by the folks who lacked criminal knowledge. Those folks, by the way, didn't get lists of numbers- they were just handed an actual winning ticket along with a fib about how it was procured. Only Eddie, Tommy, and Robert Rhodes played lists of numbers.
3
The man was very good at rigging the lottery's randomization code. However, his fault was in what to do once he had a winning ticket. He did state his joy came from "seeing if he could do it", and after that it was just circumstance of knowing the numbers. Just knowing the numbers wasn't enough though.
Using his friends and relatives was his first mistake. Using himself was the worst. What he needed was at least a 2-person anonymous distance between him and the winnings. Where the person receiving the winnings didn't know of him and the connection couldn't be traced. Of course, he'd also have to dispose of the ticket winner every time, or simply use people who were terminally ill already and would disappear naturally. It wasn't clear in the article if he did that, or used the name of someone who already died naturally recently.
1
murdering people -- or using dead people's names? That would work on a TV show or movie. In real life murder is a pretty big deal.
1
Very well written and engaging article. And depressing. I once had a grade school teacher remark that the self-professed "smartest guys in the world" were the ones locked up in prison cells.
7
A great read. How do I buy the rights for this movie?
6
It would make a great movie! Good Call.
probably too late now
Rob Sand is a neighbor who dropped by for my wife’s and my 40th wedding anniversary open house last weekend. He’s running for state auditor, and seeks to replace a Republican timekeeper who has been shown to be asleep on the job in at least two major instances this past year involving corrupt Trump-style
political appointees. He’s a genuine good guy and every state should be so fortunate to have public servants like him.
47
He certainly sounded like a good guy, the kind we need many more of.
3
Dear Times and the Author:
This is NOT the DARK WEB OR HACKING.
This is a very very simple and basic mathematical algorithm condition involving the use of the query and calculation FUNCTION called RANDOM. All software has a RANDOM function, even pseudocode programs.
The thing is RANDOM IS NOT RANDOM. The ONLY and I mean ONLY means to generate RANDOM NUMBERS is with the use of BALLS in a vacuum, air chamber. The California Lottery uses such a random machine. Sacramento City does not and I am going to be making presentations to the varied agencies that their use of any algorithm to create a RANDOM set of numbers is erroneous.
I would attach a file to prove this but I cannot. I will however send a PDF to the editors of the programming demonstration. I might even YouTube it.
If any algorithm involving RANDOM is used the results are two thirds unique and the other duplicates of the unique set. If you SEEK a set of 1000 integers, using the random function, you will not get 1000 unique numbers. In most computer programs the result you will obtain is 632 unique numbers and the other set are one or more duplicate values contained in the 632 values.
Try it in Excel. Excel produces the identical results in C++ through Python.
=RANDBETWEEN(1, 1000) The first number is what integer you wish to start with and the last integer is the maximum value you want as a threshold.
7
NO. Its a hack. Tipton wrote a DLL and inserted it into existing code. That's a hack by any definition you can think of.
You are trying to say that "random is never really random," which is something different than saying this wasnt a hack of a system.
1
This is correct. I had no idea they were using computers to choose lottery numbers, which is absurd. Aside from the well-known impossibility of generating true random numbers on a computer, the fact that computers are hackable means that even if the algorithms are 'good enough' they can corrupted by malicious code, as this case proves.
While the balls in vacuum chamber method can also be (and has been) corrupted, e.g., by unfairly weighting certain balls, it is a far easier process to audit for tampering.
You are correct that the Microsoft Visual Basic RAND/RANDOM number generators are not random. This has been known, for years.
But the article specifically mentioned the Mersenne Twister which is also pseudorandom but much less predictable unless you know the seed which, again as the article describes, was the case in this story.
There are many ways to generate truly random numbers using a computer including the use of the Aware Electronic radiation detector, also mentioned in the article. Ping pong balls in a vacuum is hardly "the ONLY way".
The Lottery gaming industry did not enter this situation with clean hands either. Per the usual, scammers don't like to be scammed. There's most certainly a nifty little algorithm that slows the number of lottery winners while raking in billions in lottery ticket sales. Of course, this is the story you will never hear but was alluded to in the statement that the winning number should be located somewhere among a few hundred players, not several million.
1
This is another prima facie example as to why lotteries in general should be abolished, for it not only destroys those families that have addicts within them that gamble away everything, but creates these individuals that try to cut corners in the system. ( white collar or not )
That is what it is all about frankly > cutting corners in life.
Society sees more and more people at the top amassing such incalculable wealth that it wonders how it can achieve said riches. It wonders how it will be able to pay the bills at the month or ever get ahead. It watches media all around them that bombards them with images of wealth and living above the ''little people''. The news carries stories everyday of people ( or even members of their government and community ) getting away with things. They want to get away with things too.
So many people gamble and then gamble some more, until they think there is no way out, unless they gamble with their own freedom itself.
The house ALWAYS wins.
3
I used to work at the counter of a retail liquor establishment. We sold lottery tickets. The neighborhood was working poor to working class. People came in every day to buy lottery tickets and play their numbers. people seldom won anything beyond a few dollars or a free lottery ticket. One customer came in every Friday to cash his paycheck. He would buy booze (Lots of it)a couple of cartons of smokes and then purchase scratch offs,daily numbers and lotto tickets. After deducting all his purchases I usually gave him back change totaling 40 dollars or less. He had a wife and three small children who were regulars at the local welfare office. This is just one example. I personally witnessed dozens of patrons like this gentleman every day. The point of this story is simple lotteries are state sponsored family destroyers. Simply put people who play the lottery are chumps.
20
A person who plays the lottery can't do math.
1
The lottery is for people who are really, really bad at math.
The people of Iowa owed a debt of gratitude to Rob Sand, a talented, versatile attorney with a real moral compass. Very few people possess the set of skills to solve this case, nor the values to turn down Harvard and business and then serve the people of Iowa.
Most people would chose Harvard Law. However, the Big Ten schools of law, and most state schools produce outstanding legal minds for the betterment of society. And this case is a shining example.
23
What a gripping series this has been. Keep it up please. Loved the illustrations too. Each of these vignettes read like a little mini thriller only it was real.
27
The question is: If one person can rig lottery software so easily who is guarding the integrity of our voting machines--with their proprietary software? We saw in 2016 how an election can rest on a very few number of votes in a very few select places.
87
Not a very compelling comparison at all. This crime was one man working on the inside, who knew how the RNGs component software worked. He had special access to insert a DLL after the software had been certified.
The election of President Trump was decided by 50 independent states voters electing Electoral College representatives. Some of these 50 states may use similar voting machines, but each state should independently verify the results. Just because you apparently hate the Electoral College because the result did not go your way, you seem to allege that there is a problem.
1
Cy, you should add to that thought that oftentimes with these machines there is no paper record; no way to verify how each person voted. It's all in what the voting machine reports.
You are completely right about the proprietary software as well. Strong encryption systems are designed via the security community b/c a small group of of individuals are highly unlikely to vet software to the needed level. Check out the story of the CSS DVD encryption.
Our government is an entire orchestra of Neros......
12
Renegade, these voting machines are connected to each other and to a central server so it isnt as simple as you think. ANd many use the same code. I am NOT saying that ALL USA voting machines are connected to each other and then only to one national main server. But the deep and multifaceted vulnerabilities are obvious to anyone who works in IT.
1
What an amazing story! I can't wait for the movie...
3
The title is wrong. He did not "crack" the lottery.
He "rigged" it.
21
No. Tipton did both. He cracked the code running the lottery's RNG: thereby rigging the lottery.
Lottery players disrespect 'sacred money' and deserve punishment. Lottery security... wink wink knod knod.
This is great writing!
5
No mention of Wells Fargo - that is a huge miss on your part.
4
Great read. Keep it up NYT.
5
Yo, anyone who "cracked" the code is incredibly talented, and I think should be rewarded for his talent. It should be in the for of CIA or NIS crytology; low paying jobs, but helpful to the public.
I am not referring to the people like the lawyers, inside lottery people, and so on. I believe they should be charged for grand theft. If found guilty, they should be sentenced to a lot of hard time.
Just as Frank Abignale, Jr. in the film "Catch Me If You Can" did. He was played by Leonardo DeCaprio, with Tom Hanks the FBI officer in charge. Of course, this was not hacking computers"; it was using the United States check cashing system against themselves. He also passed the Louisiana Bar Exam (truly) and, pawned himself off as a doctor (in Florida, I think). This was set in the 1960s to 1970s. Plus, it was directed by one of Americas best: Martin Scorcese.
Ultimately, Abignale went to work for the FBI; then started his own security company, making a lot more money than he ever stole.
It is also similar to the "White Collar" TV series, but that was fiction mostly about Fine Art forgeries, etc. It rarely (if ever) involved computer hacking. It was pretty good show, except for some obvious goofs and annoying characters.
Good story, people.
1
This was no cracking of the code, but sleeper code inserted by the guy in charge of programming. It was rigging the system, no ingenuity other than coding competence required.
1
This is a great read. The 'the accounted planted the seed' reasoning is the stuff of dark comedy.
2
There is one group of people not mentioned at all in this article: the next winners after the nonleap year dates: "the 147th day of the year (May 27), the 327th day (Nov. 23) or the 363rd day (Dec. 29)." These winners were cheated out of their winnings as the amounts illegally won were not rolled over. In other words, the first winner after December 29, 2010 received "$16.5 million" less than their due.
50
Given what has happened to many or most big winners, it was probably a blessing for those so "cheated"... Not that I wouldn't like to see for myself - but that would probably involve buying a lottery ticket, wouldn't it?
This series is very well-written, and Mr. Francavilla‘s illustrations are wonderful, but I find the portrayal of these ‘white-collar‘/financial crimes as some sort of comic-book adventure disturbing. Would the Times use this kind of artwork and typography to illustrate a series on school shootings?
11
Larry, Japan has found that graphic novels - comic books by any other name - on difficult subjects are very successful.
2
Of course not. What a ludicrous question.
1
I may not have read it if it showed just a photo of Iowa s Lottery building. The story is a mystery. The story us in the magazine section. Graphic is appropriate.
1
If I may indulge in a bit of apparently rare, high-quality lotto-consultation: Don't use computers to pick the winning numbers.
Thank you, thank you. Any state lottos who want to hire me, please inquire with the Times for my email address.
14
It's been quite a while since a story this long and detailed kept me on the edge of my chair the entire time I was reading it. A truly fascinating, captivating, and intriguing article. WOW! A wonderful job by Reid Forgrave and the graphics by Francesco Francavilla were the icing on the cake. I was half expecting to hear creepy organ music playing in the background.
While reading this article, I kept thinking about Eddie Tipton. There is no such thing as the perfect crime although I'm sure D.B. Cooper would probably disagree. But if Tipton had not spoken to the cashier at that QuikTrip or merely disguised his voice or whispered ever so softly or even just nodded, he probably would not have been identified and caught.
With such a sharp and keen brain which Tipton truly possess, it's too bad he has not applied those smarts to something fruitful, beneficial, positive and legal. I can see such potential in him. Maybe one day he will channel his mental gifts in a productive and helpful direction which people will benefit from honestly, with long lasting results.
A brilliant job performed with such tenacity by Rob Sand. He is my hero for the year!!
40
I'd be willing to bet (pun intended) that goofy I.T, guy in Iowa isn't the only one gaming lottery systems in this country.
36
It is time to do away with fleecing the poorly informed and the desperate. The entire idea was disgusting, to take money based on the weaknesses of others.
We are better people than that.
10
New York is resting hopes on casinos as being the solution to lack of jobs in the Catskills and upstate locations. They will just suck more blood out of the communities they are a situated in
4
Great read - thank you NYT. I'm loving this series and would love to see more stories like this.
16
Great reporting; gripping storytelling. But the accompanying illustrations, as well executed as they clearly are, gave the story a comic book feel to it--at least for me. If that was the intention, it succeeded wonderfully.
That said, I don't think it would have been that much of a distraction to provide at the story's conclusion photographs of the story's main characters, or at least the main culprit. For there are sometimes things that can be gleaned about a person's character from his or her face that cannot be conveyed as well or at all in writing, much less an illustration. Moreover, publishing a photograph of Mr. Tipton would have been a just denouement given his efforts described in the story's outset to cloak his identity and multiple criminal acts. Put differently, his mug shot would have been a more appropriate depiction of him (and his brother) than solely the anime-like renditions used for this story.
11
I agree about the photographs of Eddie Tipton. However, they are available if you Google (that again!) "eddie tipton". FYI for those who want to see.
Great story, really enjoyable reading. Of course, I can't help but think about the proprietary code being used in voting machines. The companies that write the code say it is a trade secret, but that it is safe. Why does this story make me very uneasy about our computerized voting machines?
40
It should. This lottery guy's software cheated pretty blatantly. It's probably one of the more obvious schemes that someone in his position could come up with. The fact that it was "certified" by some independent company when millions of dollars were at stake should give anyone pause. Either the source code should have been provided to the company doing the certifying, or they should have done a much more in-depth analysis, or probably both.
1
Great story. And cautionary too. Human nature being what it is, as long as humans are involved in building and programing these machines, there will be cheating and corruption. A few thousand years of societal development cannot overcome millions of years of biological evolution.
2
File with many others under "inadequate safeguards and controls."
Accepted best practice for computer security includes thorough, detailed, independent technical reviews. As a developer since 1979, too often I've seen reviewers accept software code that they did not understand. Publicly recognized failures that are traceable to acceptance of bad code have taken such forms as unindented acceleration in automobiles, medical-treatment deaths, vulnerable voting machines, banking losses, credit bureau failures, and now lotteries.
Technologies change, but the human characteristics of mistakes and malice are constant, and we will always be disappointed when we fail in our vigilance against those.
25
Absolutely. Most startling line in the story: "the code was approved by Gaming Laboratories International".
3
“Inadequate safeguards and controls” aren’t limited to lotteries only, but to any office of public trust. Strengthening those safeguards and controls is the primary reason Rob is running for Iowa state auditor.
1
So evidently the lottery is no longer just a tax on the stupid. It would be reasonable for anyone who played any of these lotteries to demand they have their money returned as the games, for whatever reason, appear to have been rigged. Of course that is not likely, see above. Yet another reason why the government should not be in the lottery business.
2
Thank you for a well written reveal of crime in the 21st century where power, position, social standing, seemingly benign-legal-tactics and financial black holes are illegally played in open view.
Tipon is one of many corrupt egos who is in some ways is “better than everybody else” including his manipulation personal and public trust. The article provides a clear insight how his manipulation is supported by an amorality that today gives cover for many forms of corruption.
Thankfully in this case, your story also reveals Sands’ methodical adherence to the rule of law and due diligence that rarely gets fully recognized in a world of tweets. Unless we have more men of Sands’ character and steady moral compass we are lost. My sincere appreciation and best wishes to Sands and his team.
19
Very cool. Congrats to “Baby Jesus” Sands; hope you win your election. While I like the idea of paying my taxes in a fun way like the lottery, I hate the idea that I’m tangling with shady characters or encouraging gambling addiction.
10
There are people with eating disorders are you going to stop eating because there are some out there who eat too much or too little?
Casinos and lotteries about taking the rent checks of gambling addicts so that a tiny handful of people can receive a bunch of money that they did not earn. If anything, I would surprised to learn that gambling is NOT mostly crooked. At least Ponzi scheme artists have to work to create and pull off their scheme.
6
Jay, it's called free choice, and that's why your name isn't on the façade of the building. I've been to many casino's both here and abroad and though I'm sure there were people there with gambling problems no one put a gun to their heads and forced them to gamble.
An amazing story - reads like an exciting crime novel. Thanks to the writer and NYT Magazine.
55
If I win the next Powerball Lottery I’m gonna buy my wife a sewing machine, pay off the $728.55 I owe still owe VISA for my Christmas shopping and invest the rest in Bitcoins. President Trump and Paul Ryan are our leaders. These are perilous times. One cannot be too careful.
4
Hopefully we will see a report of this caliber in appreciation of Mueller and his team's work.
1
What a champ. Your wife is one lucky woman, Mr. Stanton! a SEWING machine! gee willikers!
More great Times reporting, thanks.
14
Meanwhile, parasites in the banking, investment, and insurance industries who together have stolen tens of billions of dollars and harmed millions of people, live free and happy.
81
100% agree. The "victimless" crimes seem to leave a lot of dead bodies on main street, and in retirement communities.
Hope to see greater funding of regulation, oversight, and prosecution of industries rife with better-than-thou egomaniacs.
They should not be able to "live free and happy."
All of those politicians who swore they would pay for what they did are now collecting six to seven figures giving 1/2 hour (if that) speeches. Go figure.
4
The key insight? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
1
Great story and reporting. Thanks to the FBI agent for his persistence and determination.
And once again we also see...
Anything humans devise can be compromised in some way and a fraud committed. And an insider especially like Tipton can be apparently intelligent, but clearly not wise or ethical...in fact a devious criminal. And we know the world is full of people that share his values, unfortunately.
This article in fact has got me to thinking about the fact many large banks and other businesses and financial entities are headed in a new direction today -- toward the use of cyber-currencies and the block-chain system to handle payment transactions, money transfers, clearing and settlement, etc.
The foundation of the whole system is not trust in an individual, or government or institution, but trust in the security and reliability of mathematical functions and code, with the ledger supposedly open and on every cpu in the world-wide network.
Proponents say it is guaranteed to be safe and secure, but those of us who've been on the planet a few decades know there is a Tipton out there that will figure out a way to manipulate it. Some things will never change, buyer beware.
33
The difference is that for Bitcoin (for example) the code is public, so the assumption is that if there was malicious code it would be found. Similar assumptions underlie our confidence that there is no malicious code (but may be incorrect code, which we find occasionally) in the open-source encryption packages used on the internet
1