Is it possible to buy lottery tickets online

Individual states operate and regulate the lottery in their respective jurisdictions. Multi-state lotteries like Mega Millions and Powerball are regulated as joint efforts among participating states.

Lottery ticket courier services operate as legal, licensed partners to state and national lotteries. Jackpocket functions much like the official online lottery platforms offered in some states. Players can deposit funds, purchase tickets, and withdraw winning directly from the Jackpocket app. Online lottery purchases made through Jackpocket in these states are as secure as purchasing at an official retail or online state lottery outlet.

The biggest prizes available in online lottery instant win games can reach into the six-figure territory or higher. These games include Instant Keno Multiplier and Bullseye Keno, both of which function as instant-win drawing games. Non-US residents can purchase lottery tickets and win prizes in US-bases lotteries. Players must be 18 or over and have purchased a winning ticket inside the US to be eligible to win. Federal law dictates that US citizens cannot legally participate in lotteries outside the US through the mail, internet, or phone.

The only way to legally purchase an international lottery ticket is by visiting a foreign country and making an in-person purchase. Winnings on international lottery ticket purchases are subject to taxation in both the issuing country and the US. Written By: Geoff Fisk. Is it legal to purchase lottery tickets online in the US?

Who regulates the sales of lottery tickets in the US? How old do I have to be to purchase online lottery tickets in the US?

The minimum age for purchasing lottery tickets, both retail and online, is Legal online lottery platforms require proof of identity, age, and location to purchase tickets. What is a lottery ticket courier service?

What states offer the best Instant Win online lottery games in the US? Can non-US residents win the lottery in the US? There are two kinds of lottery laws in the United States: federal and state laws.

Federal law is pretty clear that buying or selling lottery tickets by mail is illegal and punishable by fines or jail time. But the internet has opened up new ways for people to buy tickets remotely. The internet is not covered by the postal code, so does that mean that federal law doesn't apply?

Not quite. For many years, the Interstate Wire Act of prevented lottery tickets from being sold online. It states :. However, in December of , the Department of Justice released an opinion that the Federal Wire Act applies specifically to sports betting , not lottery tickets,. Their ruling stated:. This made it possible to let states decide whether they want to offer online sales for their lottery tickets.

Even if federal law allows online lottery sales, many states are reluctant to go forward with buying tickets online. Aside from the risks of fraud, there are also other problems. For example, it's much harder to ensure that tickets aren't sold to people under the legal age when the tickets are sold online.

Plus, states don't want to lose the tax income from people who go to a convenience store or gas station to buy a lottery ticket and end up making a few other purchases while they are there. Currently, the following states offer legal online lottery purchases:. In , Minnesota became the very first state to offer lottery games online; however, a year later, they pulled all the games and stopped selling lottery tickets online.

A question many players ask before venturing online is how safe are the tickets? Especially that winning ticket! We see headlines in the newspapers about winning lottery tickets, of millions of pounds, remaining unclaimed, with appeals to check pockets and wallets.

Luckily for him the publicity surrounding the missing winning ticket reached his ears and he narrowly met the official deadline to claim his prize. But it remains that often these tickets lie low, passing deadlines, quite tragic for the individuals, but beneficial to charities as these unclaimed sums are then ploughed into needy causes!

Buying lottery tickets online helps to circumvent this type of issue as winning tickets are linked to a unique player account, with easy methods for prize winners to contact the lottery organisers and present their winning ticket and for the lottery organisers to contact the winner.

But if you really don't want to go, there are a couple of services that let you pay someone to buy them for you. CNNMoney hasn't tested any of these sites so we can't vouch for their quality. Related: Could you guarantee yourself a Powerball jackpot?

The Illinois online lottery system is pretty straightforward: Pick one ticket or multiple tickets for up to 26 consecutive drawings.

You can choose your own numbers or tell the site to pick them for you. Add your tickets to your cart and check out.