This is the American Greed podcast presented by CNBC.

I'm Stacey Keach.

In this episode of American Greed,

buying a winning lottery ticket is a dream come true.

We're here! We have the winning tickets right now!

People were fascinated by this case, because everyone's fascinated by the lottery. When the winner of a $16 million jackpot refuses to identify himself, officials suspect a rigged game. Ding, ding, ding, something is screwy. It turns into the biggest lottery scam in American history. He figured out a way to keep winning the lottery.

It's Christmastime 2010 in Des Moines,

and Iowans are feeling the holiday cheer.

The hot lotto jackpot keeps growing, blowing past the $15 million mark. It's one of the Hawkeye State's most popular lottery games.

Winning numbers right here.

And part of an $80 billion a year industry.

Hot Lotto is a game that you'd pick five different white balls and one

hotball. Winning tickets. It was a big, big, big jackpot at the time. So people were getting excited.

Big, big, big, big, big, big winners. And as jackpots rise, more and more people jump in.

Anyone able to choose the correct six numbers will have a very merry Christmas.

On December 23rd, a heavyset man in a black jacket, cap, and hoodie

walks up to the counter to a quick-trip convenience store off Interstate 80.

You can't quite see his face. You can hear his voice a little bit.

Hello.

And wait for head dogs?

Yes, sir.

Three-seven.

...