Clarification note from Caixa lotteries regarding false accusations against Mega Sena.

CAIXA Lotteries, in response to some emails forwarded to this institution concerning spam circulating on the internet with false information about Mega-Sena, wishes to provide the necessary clarifications to demonstrate the transparency and integrity involved in the processes and operations of the Federal Lotteries, which also guarantee and justify the credibility earned with Brazilian society over more than 43 years under CAIXA's administration.

How it all began

First, a brief overview is necessary to understand how these false accusations about the Mega-Sena lottery began circulating on the internet. The circulation of this SPAM, now forwarded by you, containing apocryphal news about alleged fraud in the Mega-Sena lottery, came to the attention of CAIXA (the Brazilian Federal Savings Bank) in April 2005. Immediately, clarifications were provided to the members of the message's distribution lists regarding its defamatory content, and measures were taken in the police and judicial spheres to hold those responsible for the slander accountable.
The problem is that such unfounded information continues to circulate online, and many internet users, even without checking the veracity of the facts, still forward the false accusations to long lists of recipients. This action, even if it seems harmless to its authors, is reckless and has caused considerable harm to the people who end up being identified as the authors of the text.
Recently, CAIXA received a report from a lawyer in São Paulo who lost his job and was removed from the firm where he worked for forwarding this message to his distribution lists. An employee of a private bank had to publicly retract her statement after allegedly being identified as the author of the false information.
The origin of some of the allegations currently receiving prominent coverage in the national press lies, in large part, in the uncontrolled dissemination of this... SPAM with unfounded information about Mega-Sena.
We will now discuss CAIXA's procedures in the administration of the Federal Lotteries:

Identification and Disclosure of Winners
Contrary to what some news reports suggest, all bettors who receive a prize from the Federal Lotteries at CAIXA branches are identified. Data such as name, CPF (Brazilian taxpayer ID), and identity number are registered in a CAIXA corporate system and subsequently passed on to the Federal Revenue Service, thus becoming available to the competent Public Agencies.
The winner has the right, for reasons relating to their safety and that of their family, to not have their name and image disclosed to the general public; however, CAIXA, whenever requested to do so by bodies that constitutionally hold this competence, makes this information available.

Prevention of Money Laundering Crimes
CAIXA is an ally and partner of COAF (Council for the Control of Financial Activities) in preventing money laundering. For this reason, the institution strictly adheres to COAF's determinations and routinely sends information about prize payments with the respective names and CPF numbers of the winners, following parameters defined by that body.
This information supports COAF in its actions against potential money laundering crimes involving prizes from Federal Lotteries.
It is important to highlight that the news reports about people suspected of involvement in irregularities originate from COAF, based on information provided by CAIXA.
It is also important to emphasize that the current allegations reported in the press – about people who have won dozens of times in the Federal Lotteries – do not concern the collection of bets, the drawing and tabulation of results, or the operational and technological routines of the Federal Lotteries. It is not the way the Lotteries operate that is under suspicion. Rather, it concerns practices carried out outside the technological and operational scope of CAIXA (the Brazilian Federal Savings Bank), by people with diverse interests who may allegedly be involved in money laundering crimes (for example: buying winning lottery tickets).

Procedures inherent to Federal Lotteries
All processes involving the collection of bets, the drawing of lots, and the tabulation of results for the Federal Lotteries are rigorously followed to guarantee the complete security of the information involved. These procedures are listed below:

Bet Collection and Processing System
The system used for collecting bets from CAIXA Lotteries It was implemented in accordance with best security practices for highly available, mission-critical transactional systems. 
A set of rigorously followed procedures for collecting and processing bets guarantees total security and integrity of the information and processes involved in these operations, making it impossible to tamper with the data of bets placed and preventing the insertion of new bets after the closing of sales, which occurs one hour before the start of the drawing of the numbers that will determine the prize winners.
The collection and processing of bets are carried out in real time, guaranteeing the participation of all bets sold in each draw, as the receipt is only issued after the bet has been processed by the Online Lottery System. As an additional security measure, the following information is recorded for each bet and printed on the receipt: date and time, lottery outlet code, ticket number, security code, and other information that identifies the transaction. All this information is made available to audits by regulatory bodies.

Conducting the Draws
The drawings only take place one hour after the closing of bets and are held in the "Truck of Luck," a mobile unit that travels throughout Brazil, or, exceptionally, the drawings take place in the CAIXA auditorium in Brasília, with free public access. In the last five years, the Truck has visited more than 300 municipalities.
Thus, all Federal Lottery draws are held in open spaces, with the presence and participation of the local population and media outlets, who can verify and attest to the transparency and fairness of all processes involved.
The locations where the Federal Lottery draws are held are announced at least 30 days in advance on the CAIXA website (www.caixa.gov.brSimply click on the "LUCKY TRUCK" option, below the LOTTERIES link.
It is through this mobile unit that CAIXA democratizes the lottery, enabling people from all regions of the country to verify the transparency and security of the draws.
In addition to the local population, the draw is conducted and formally validated by CAIXA employees and two other members of the public acting as popular auditors. The balls used in the draws are made of solid rubber, numbered and colored for easy identification, have the same weight and diameter, and are periodically calibrated by INMETRO.
Both the balls and the electromechanical equipment used for the draws are manufactured by the French company Ryo Catteau, a supplier to other major lotteries worldwide.

Verification of Winning Bets
One hour before each draw, the sale of bets is automatically closed by the computer system responsible for collecting and processing them. From that moment on, the system is blocked from receiving new bets or any type of change, awaiting only the result of the draw to proceed with the determination of the winners of the prizes.
After the numbers are drawn, the system is fed with the drawn numbers and calculates the winning bets.
During the tabulation process, the total amount collected, the amounts allocated to prizes (in the various prize categories), the number of winners, and the distribution of prizes, among other control information for the tabulated contests, are verified and checked.

Technical Audits
CAIXA considers the technical audits that are constantly carried out on the administration of the Federal Lotteries, mainly by the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), to be extremely important, because by validating the integrity and transparency of the respective processes, the credibility of this public service is increasingly consolidated.

Conclusion
With the clarifications provided here, we hope to have dispelled any doubts, thus contributing to reassuring you regarding the responsibility, transparency, and honesty with which Caixa Econômica Federal manages the Brazilian Federal Lotteries. This guarantees all the processes involved and the integrity of fundamental transfers to social beneficiaries, which is the reason for its existence.

National Superintendency of Lotteries and Games of CAIXA