Lottery Winners Are Using The Names Of DEAD People To Claim Dozens Of Prizes

The New Jersey Lottery is paying out prizes to winners who use the Social Security numbers of dead people, a new state audit has found.

The audit, released in February 2015 also found the lottery failed to recover up to $890,000 in taxes and other obligations from winners, reported USA Today.

Winners of prizes more than $600 are required to list a Social Security number or tax identification number in order to claim their winnings and have state and federal taxes withheld.

Winners who want to avoid such scrutiny often will sell their ticket to a third party, usually a lottery retailer, for an amount less than the full prize value.

The audit states the lottery wasn't verifying Social Security numbers on all claim forms and found 680 instances where unconfirmed information was given - 46 of which had dead people's Social Security numbers and names.

It also found the lottery doesn't always identify people who owe court-ordered debts, like child support and defaulted student loans, as required by the law.

Officials were doing thorough checks on winnings topping $250,000 - but if prize money was less than that, the audit suggests the state left money on the table.

Right now the lottery only checks the information of winners of more than $250,000. The audit recommends changing that amount to $600.

In a written statement, the lottery said it's working on a new computer system to help with these issues.