The Association of Lotto Marketing Companies has cautioned the public to be mindful of the behaviours of illegal lotto operators in the country.

A statement copied to the Ghana News Agency and signed by Kofi Frimpong, General Secretary of the Association of Lotto Marketing Companies, said the activities of the illegal lotto operators commonly known as ‘banker-to-banker’ is posing a serious threat to the continuous existence of the National Lottery Association (NLA).It said this has resulted in the drastic decline in sales and turnovers. The statement read, “banker-to-banker has over the years been undermining the revenue generation efforts of the NLA by pirating its winning numbers to the extent that they have succeeded in annexing a large segment of NLA’s market to the detriment of the national economy”.It said the use of plain papers with no serial numbers which these illegal operators sell to the public are untaxed and all the proceeds go to their private pockets.“This is amassing wealth at the expense of the nation,” the statement added.The statement said measures are being put in place to streamline the activities of these illegal operators which includes an invitation to register these operators with the NLA to obtain a license under terms and conditions, to also abolish the use of raw paper whilst adopting the automated system.It said the streamlined activities would also include the standardisation of payments of prizes and sales commission to ensure equity and fairness in the business.