Among those who said they gamble, 53 per cent said the most common form of gaming they participate in is buying lottery, instant wins and scratch tickets.
However, a website; www.hoax-slayer.com, has described the health alert as bogus, saying the coating on scratch tickets (cards) is made of specialised latex inks, which are harmless.
A bank offering a prize-linked account might instead give the account holder $1 of interest plus a small chance -- slightly better than scratch tickets -- to win $10,000.