CLEVELAND — The Ohio Lottery has announced that its cashing services that were suspended following last month's cybersecurity incident have been fully restored.
Lottery officials revealed that the agency experienced an unknown "cybersecurity issue" on Christmas Eve that affected some of its technical operations. The issue left winners mostly unable to cash rewards of $600 or more, while fully suspending mobile cashing of all prize values.
Earlier this month, the lottery announced "a potential leak" of customer and retailer financial credit information to an "unauthorized third-party" following the cybersecurity incident. Although officials did not confirm whether sensitive data was breached, they did urge customers and retailers who had purchased or taken part in the lottery to monitor their credit reports and bank statements out of an abundance of caution.
According to a release issued on Friday, Ohio Lottery winners cashed in over $50 million in prizes last week.
Claims for prizes can be made in the following ways:
- Prizes up to $599 may be cashed at any Ohio Lottery Retailer location.
- Prizes up to $25,000 can be cashed by using the mobile cashing feature available through the mobile app or at one of the State’s seven racinos.
- Prizes up to $5,000 can be cashed at Super Retailer locations or at an Ohio Lottery Regional Office in the form of a pre-paid debit card.
- In addition, any prize claims may also be filed in an Ohio Lottery regional office or mailed to the Ohio Lottery Central Office.
"The investigation into the cybersecurity incident that occurred on December 24, 2023, is ongoing, and the State wants to reiterate that if any consumer data was compromised, it will take all measures to assist with credit monitoring to protect Ohioans. We will notify all known affected individuals as quickly as possible and in accordance with applicable laws," the lottery added in its release.