Published on ShanghaiDaily.com (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/)
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200810/20081027/article_378351.htm
250,000-yuan lottery cheat runs out of luck
Created: 2008-10-27 0:52:37
Author:Fei Lai
A MAN almost walked away with a lottery grand prize of 250,000 yuan (US$36,522) in Minhang District before it was discovered that he'd written the winning number on to the ticket.
According to Xinmin Evening News, the man, surnamed Chang, bought 400 yuan worth of China Sports Lottery scratch cards on Friday morning in Zhuanqiao Town.
Each ticket costs 10 yuan and winning tickets pay out anything up to 250,000 yuan. Chang scratched all his cards but only won a handful of small prizes.
However, when he scratched off his last ticket he started shouting that he had won the grand prize. He was invited up on stage while his wife went home to fetch his identity card.
When the lottery ticket was examined with a scanning machine, it was found to be invalid.
For a start, the ticket didn't indicate anywhere how much the prize was. On closer inspection, officials saw that underneath the winning number, a 16, was written yishi, meaning 10.
The staff saw that Chang had drawn over the numbers to make it look like a winning ticket.
When his wife returned with the identity card, she was greeted by the sight of her husband being led away by the police.
The real winner of the 250,000-yuan prize turned out to be a woman from Chong°?qing, who bought the winning ticket on Saturday morning.
Officials from the Sports Lottery center said people had tried all kinds of tricks to claim the top prize, including fabricating fake tickets.
Chang is under investigation by the police.
According to Xinmin Evening News, the man, surnamed Chang, bought 400 yuan worth of China Sports Lottery scratch cards on Friday morning in Zhuanqiao Town.
Each ticket costs 10 yuan and winning tickets pay out anything up to 250,000 yuan. Chang scratched all his cards but only won a handful of small prizes.
However, when he scratched off his last ticket he started shouting that he had won the grand prize. He was invited up on stage while his wife went home to fetch his identity card.
When the lottery ticket was examined with a scanning machine, it was found to be invalid.
For a start, the ticket didn't indicate anywhere how much the prize was. On closer inspection, officials saw that underneath the winning number, a 16, was written yishi, meaning 10.
The staff saw that Chang had drawn over the numbers to make it look like a winning ticket.
When his wife returned with the identity card, she was greeted by the sight of her husband being led away by the police.
The real winner of the 250,000-yuan prize turned out to be a woman from Chong°?qing, who bought the winning ticket on Saturday morning.
Officials from the Sports Lottery center said people had tried all kinds of tricks to claim the top prize, including fabricating fake tickets.
Chang is under investigation by the police.
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