A man in China recently faced misfortune after sharing his excitement about winning the lottery in a group chat.
According to reports, John (a pseudonym) posted a photo of his winning ticket in a local residents’ group chat and went to the store to claim his prize the next day.
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The lottery store said the prize had already been claimed
During John’s visit to the lottery store, he was told that the prize had already been claimed by someone else, prompting him to file a police report, according to China Press.
During the investigation, police discovered that after the victim shared the winning lottery ticket with a group, one of the members, Eric (a pseudonym), took advantage of the situation. He falsely claimed to be the winner and asked for the prize to be transferred via WeChat, saying he was “out of town.”
Being a regular customer at the lottery store, the owner quickly verified the details and transferred the prize money to Eric.
The prize owner was able to recover his winnings
The police later contacted Eric and explained the relevant laws, which made him realise the consequences of his actions. He immediately returned the fraudulently claimed prize money to the lottery store.
With the police mediating on-site, the victim forgave Eric, allowing him to successfully claim his rightful prize.
The police reminded the public that winning lottery tickets are important proof of ownership and should not be carelessly photographed or shared online, as they could be misused by criminals.
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