The National Lottery Authority has warned the public to be wary of fraudsters who intend to use dubious means to extort money.

In a statement released on Saturday, February 13, 2020, the NLA said it officially operates only one shortcode which is the *959#.

It, therefore, urged the public not to patronize any number which claims to act on behalf of the NLA.

Below is the release

The National Lottery Authority(NLA) would like to caution the general public, players of NLA Products/Services and the media that, the ONLY operational and functional official shortcode of National Lottery Authority(NLA) is *959#.

Any other platform operating digital lottery short code is FRAUD and illegal.

A lot of investment has gone into the development and running of the official short code of NLA, *959#.

Again, the ONLY licensed online lotto marketing company responsible for the operation of *959# on behalf of NLA is KGL Technology Limited.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Live Draw on GTV and short code operated by Alpha Lotto Limited are ILLEGAL and in total breach of the Laws governing the lottery industry. The Authority shall take steps to address the illegal short code and Live Draw by Alpha Lotto Limited.

We would like to use this opportunity to caution and instruct Alpha Lotto Limited and GTV to STOP the LIVE DRAW with immediate effect.

Again, we would like to use this opportunity to direct Alpha Lotto Limited to STOP the operations of its illegal short code for 5/90 with immediate effect.

We are respectfully urging the general public, players and stakeholders of lottery industry to play NLA 5/90 through the Authority's Point of Sale Terminals across the Country, and through the ONLY Digital lottery platform of NLA *959#.

Source: Public Relations Unit of NLA