Online scratch cards are the on-line version of the lottery

Lottery

A lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize.Lottery is outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments...

 scratch cards that are usually purchased at stands. Online scratch cards are played by clicking on designated areas to reveal information used to determine the card’s prize value. The company providing the game is responsible for determining the chance of winning and some online scratch cards can offer better odds than the lottery scratch cards.

Types of card

The cards can be divided into two groups: web-based scratch cards and download-based scratch cards; some companies offer both.

Web-based online scratch cards

These are the most common form. For these, the website users may directly play without loading any software to the local computer. Games are presented in the browser plugin Flash and require browser support for this plugin.
The latest technology also allows for non-lottery usage such as virtual fundraisers

Fundraising

Fundraising or fund raising is the process of soliciting and gathering voluntary contributions as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies...

where the online scratch card is used to attract attention to a cause and to act as a vehicle for donations. Social networking sites can likewise be posted to by using the new widget auto posting tools now freely available. Many programs are free and can be easily emailed, blogged, and posted within social sites.

Download-based online scratch cards

On these websites, users must download software to play. After installing the software, it connects to the online card service provider and handles contact without browser support.

Bonuses

Many online Scratch card companies offer large bonuses, often a "100% match up bonus". For example, common conditions for a bonus may be:

• 100% up to $100
• Must wager 20 times the bonus before withdrawing

This would mean that a player depositing $100 would start with $200 in his/her account. He/She must make $2000 ($100 × 20) in wagers before withdrawing. Any card played will count towards the wager requirement.

Player fraud

In the most common cases of player fraud, the player signs up for multiple accounts on a card site using fake names to repeat the bonus more than once. Online scratch card companies do not tolerate such behavior and will usually lock the accounts of the player responsible, and may inform other scratch card sites or the software provider to keep the player out of other scratch card sites.