Scratchcard
A scratchcard (called a scratch off, scratch ticket, scratcher, scratchie, scratch-it, scratch game, scratch-and-win, instant game or instant lottery in different places) is a small card, often made of thin paper-based card for competitions and plastic to conceal PINs, where one or more areas contain concealed information which can be revealed by scratching off an opaque covering.
Applications include cards sold for gambling (especially lottery games and quizzes), free-of-charge cards for quizzes, fraudulent free cards encouraging calls to premium rate phone services, and to conceal confidential information such as PINs for telephone calling cards and other prepaid services.
In some cases the entire scratchable area needs to be scratched to see whether a prize has been won—the card is printed either to be a winner or not—or to reveal the secret code; the result does not depend upon what portions are scratched off. In other cases, some but not all areas have to be scratched; this may apply in a quiz, where the area corresponding to the right answer is scratched, or in some gambling applications where, depending on which areas are scratched, the card wins or loses. In these cases the card becomes invalid if too many areas are scratched. After losing one can scratch all areas to see if, how, and what one could have won with this card.
Technology
The scratchcard itself is simple: a card made of paper-based card, or plastic, with hidden information printed on it, covered by an opaque substance (usually latex[1]) that can be scratched off relatively easily, while resistant to normal abrasion.
Cards hiding confidential information
Scratchcards are a method of distributing confidential information, with no element of chance or skill. A common example is the phone card sold for a price which provides specified phone call usage. The card itself, unlike, say, a credit card, has no function in itself; it is simply a vehicle to inform the purchaser confidentially of the PIN required to make the phone calls paid for.
References
- ^ “Consumer Alert: Bonus Word Crossword Scratchers” (Press release). California State Lottery. 11 December 2006. Retrieved 11 December 2006.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
Tags: instant game, instant lottery, scratch game, scratch off, scratch ticket, scratch-and-win, scratch-it, scratchcard, scratcher, scratchie
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