"Lottery Winning Odds Increased"...Gyeonggi Province and Korea Consumer Agency Identify 6 Number Provision Vendors

# A lottery winning number information provider based in Gyeonggi Province attracted consumers on its website with phrases such as "dramatically increase winning odds."

However, according to investigations by Gyeonggi Province and the Korea Consumer Agency, Company A extracted numbers with no relation to mathematical probability by excluding recent winning numbers or including specific digits.

Gyeonggi Province additionally identified Company A's unfair contract terms and imposed a penalty of 8 million won, while recommending correction of violations.

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hoon Reporter] Gyeonggi Province and the Korea Consumer Agency have identified 6 lottery winning number information providers that committed illegal acts such as using false or exaggerated advertising to mislead consumers or applying unfair contract terms including non-refundable cancellations.

Gyeonggi Province and the Korea Consumer Agency investigated 6 lottery information providers in the province from April 20 to 27.

These 6 vendors are companies that received 2 or more damage relief applications to the Korea Consumer Agency in the second half of last year.

As a result, all 6 companies were found to have violated the 'E-commerce Act and Door-to-Door Sales Act' by ▲using false or exaggerated advertising ▲using unfair contract terms ▲failing to report changes (domain additions or modifications), leading to total penalties of 42 million won imposed and corrective measures recommended for violations.

Of these, 3 companies used simple systems analyzing and combining past winning numbers and employed expressions such as "further increased winning odds" despite mathematical probability remaining unchanged.

2 companies attracted consumers by simultaneously presenting high "original prices" and significantly discounted prices, then contracted with all consumers at the discounted price, revealing false discount practices (advertising).

Notably, all 6 investigated companies employed unfair contract terms such as no refunds and excessive penalty fees, indicating that consumer vigilance is necessary.

Jung Mi-young, head of the Information and Communication Team at the Korea Consumer Agency, stated, "Recently, there has been an increase in companies inducing high-priced service contracts by claiming 100% refunds if lottery tickets don't win," and advised, "Consumers should not blindly trust the increased winning odds presented by lottery information providers and must carefully check refund conditions when entering contracts."

Jo Byung-rae, head of the Fair Economy Division of Gyeonggi Province, said, "Going forward, we will continue to identify areas where residents suffer damages not only from lottery winning number information provision but also from false or exaggerated advertising and unfair contract terms, and will actively conduct investigations."

According to data from the 1372 Consumer Consultation Center operated by the Fair Trade Commission, 1,047 consultations (286 from Gyeonggi Province) regarding lottery information providers were received nationwide in the first half of this year alone. Among these, most involve requests for contract cancellation due to false or exaggerated advertising and resulting refund disputes.

Accordingly, Gyeonggi Province identified law violations at 6 lottery winning number information vendors last October and imposed total penalties of 45 million won, taking disciplinary action.