The thing that most people mistake about scammers is the notion that they are always strangers, but never anyone they personally know – like someone in the office lottery pool.
Scammers can sometimes be family members and friends when someone is bequeathed money in a will.
Or unscrupulous coworkers in an office lottery pool. If you are going to play the lottery, play it on your own terms and buy a ticket. Unless you take specific legal protections, an office lottery pool is a non-legally binding oral agreement.
You could pay into a pool that helps a coworker you despise become a millionaire. Or you could win and find yourself legally hounded by everyone in the office pool and spend years in court before you win.
The Office Lottery Pool
Playing the lottery is usually a fool’s game.
For example, your odds of winning the recent $1.3 Billion Mega Millions lottery is one-in-292,201,338. Your odds of winning a $1 million Powerball jackpot is one-in-11,688,054.
Your odds of dying in a commercial aviation crash are one-in-11 million. Depending on the statistics you refer to, your odds of dying in a car crash are either one-in-30 or one-in-101. Even though commercial aviation is practically safer than driving a car and safe in general, you are more likely to die in a flaming airplane crash than win a mega lottery.
To increase their odds of winning large-scale lotteries, many people join office lottery pools at their place of employment. They are fun, augments camaraderie, and could boost morale and improve work attendance.
Usually, one employee acts as the pool leader – this person buys the lottery tickets each week based on the number of coworkers who pay to participate. If there is a winning ticket, everyone split the winnings evenly.
That is the theory anyway. If you have ever lost a relationship with family members or friends over money disputes, why do you think you can trust coworkers, complete strangers, with the honor system when it comes to sharing hundreds of millions of dollars?
Getting Scammed By The Office Lottery Pool
Office lottery pools that result in a lottery win usually result in lawsuits or one coworker, usually, the pool leader, claiming to own the winning ticket solely. After all, the office pool leader usually buys and signs the lottery ticket.
How lottery winnings can be collected via lottery pools can differ legally depending on the state you reside in. Unless you have an office lottery pool agreement in legal writing, the pool is a legally non-binding verbal agreement.
A coworker who was part of the lottery pool and then opted out the week before a win could sue to claim a slice of the winnings.
Even if there is a winning ticket, it could take years before anyone sees the money due to lawsuits.
In 2011, an Ohio man sued his 22 coworkers after they won a $99 million office pool lottery. The man religiously opted into the office lottery pool for 8 years and then stopped three months before the office pool won.
Just google “office lottery pool lawsuits,” to find similar horror stories.
The point is that if you participate in such pools, you need to legally protect yourself. Do you get along with everyone at your job? Is it full of drama and office politics? Why would you trust anyone at your place of work to obey the honor system and share hundred of millions with you?
Here is how to protect yourself.
Get Legal Representation
Consult with a lawyer on your own or one that everyone agrees to consult with. If everyone can pay into an office lottery pool for years, everyone can pay in to get a lawyer. Persuade them by saying that everyone will be legally protected if there is a winning ticket and no one will be left out of the winnings.
It is brain-donor stupid to opt into an office lottery pool, especially with the rate of how many of them actually win, without a lawyer involved to protect your rights.
Everyone Signs a Contract
Have the lawyer explain how a win would work for everyone. Everyone in the pool should sign a contract that stipulates the terms and conditions of participation.
The contract should lay out who is the office pool leader, who is involved in the office pool, what happens if anyone leaves the office pool before a lottery win, how often the tickets are bought, if the office pool will take a lump sum or annual annuity payment, where the original lottery tickets will be kept, and so on.
In the event of a lottery win, the lawyer could establish an office pool trust that pays winnings out to everyone based on predetermined conditions.
A good lawyer will lay out every contingency to protect everyone participating in the office pool so that one person can’t steal the winning ticket legally. Being morally vile and stealing an office community lottery ticket on an honor system justification is not illegal in most states if not all.
Everyone in the Office Pool Gets a Copy of Every Ticket
Many office pool leaders get away with stealing the winnings because a court could declare the pool a non-legally binding verbal contract. And if there is no contract, the pool leader can say they bought the ticket with their own money.
Everyone in the office pool should get a physical paper or digital copy of every purchased lottery ticket. Anyone who opts out of the office pool won’t have a legal leg to stand on if the pool wins the week after they opted out.
Everyone in the pool having a copy of the ticket also engenders more trust.
Keep the Original Lottery Tickets in a Safe Place
The office pool has to decide where to keep the original lottery tickets. You could keep them in an office safe, however, the pool leader still has access. It might be easier to hand them over to a lawyer for safekeeping.
Make Public Announcements Regarding Office Pool Participants
You can make public lists and announcements in the office newsletter or local newspapers or journals that list every participant involved. Update these announcements as needed.
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Allen Francis was an academic advisor, librarian, and college adjunct for many years with no money, no financial literacy, and no responsibility when he had money. To him, the phrase “personal finance,” contains the power that anyone has to grow their own wealth. Allen is an advocate of best personal financial practices including focusing on your needs instead of your wants, asking for help when you need it, saving and investing in your own small business.