Lottery Fraud

[Gromit]

There have been a few instances of shop owners / workers scanning winning tickets and saying it was just £10.

// A shopkeeper from Gravesend has been found guilty of trying to con a lottery syndicate out of nearly £80,000 in winnings. Imran Pervais, 26, misled the winning group into thinking they had won £10 when in fact they had scooped £79,887 after matching five balls and the bonus ball.

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A Manchester shop worker has been jailed after fraudulently trying to claim the £1m lottery winnings of an elderly woman.

Farrakh Nizzar, 30, of Woodlands Road, Crumpsall, Greater Manchester, told Maureen Holt, 78, she had won nothing when he scanned her ticket.

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A newsagent stole a winning lottery ticket taken to her shop by a loyal customer ~ and her husband tried to claim the £156,000 prize.

Shopkeeper Anne Jeevarajah, 38, kept the lucky ticket when winner Gwyn Badham-Davies, 73, took it to her store to see if he had won.
The cheat checked it on her machine at the family's shop in Hingham, near Watton, Norfolk, but did not tell him he had won a small fortune.
Her crooked husband, Alfred Jeevarajah, 45, then brazenly rang up lottery organisers Camelot and told them he had won. //

1. Should this way of checking tickets (and paying out) be banned? The numbers are available on TV, websites and newspapers.

2. Are the sentences long enough? A lot of money is attempted to be stolen.

[Baldric]

I assumed the Gravesend one was a pensioner, but saw him on TV last night, he's probably in his 30's, why was he unable to check his own ticket, he surely has access to TV, smart 'phone or computer, just lazy imo!

[mikey4444]

I only take part Lotto on-line, where this kind of fraud would seem to be impossible. It is terribly easy to set up and you get a smashing email early on Sunday morning, to tell you if you have £10 or not the night before.

Presumably it works the same way if you win the jackpot, although, unfortunately, I haven't won more than £10 at any one time !

Even if you buy your Lotto tickets from our friends in the Commonwealth in the corner shop, you can still check on-line to see if you have won.

[albaqwerty]

We had a local shop-keeper who kept the £10 winning tickets, he didn't last for long. Don't know what happened to him though.

Can't see the current method being banned. What sentences did these people get?

[DangerUXD]

No need to legislate, the theives are easily caught because for large prizes the lottery people do a little obvious investigation before paying out. There was a case last year involving £1m+ jackpot, The guy in the shop said it wasn't a winner and then tried to claim and got caught when he could not tell them where he bought the ticket. They then traced the correct winners. Frankly I'm amazed anyone trusts the shops to check their tickets anyway.

[B00]

It is hard as an honest lottery ticket checker when we see these stories!

Personally, and I know we all do where I work, we always print out and give the customer the pink slip which yays or nays their ticket, and give them the option of giving them the ticket back or us ripping it up for them. If its the latter, we rip it immediately, infront of the customer into shreds.

[friedgreentomato]

This is only a few instances out of the millions of tickets that are checked lets not tar every newsagent with the same brush.

[McMouse]

Many lottery outlets display the winning numbers or will tell you what they are. Fraud is fraud.......doesn't much matter whether it is a crooked shopkeeper or a con-man stealing your savings.......if found guilty they should be punished in accordance with the law.

[aelmpvw]

ways to check lottery numbers:
newspapers
ceefax
internet
watching the draw
last resort ... ask someone else to do it for you

[Gromit]

Friedgreentomatoes

These are successful prosecutions. No one is tarring every newsagent, just the dishonest ones.

I suggest the system is flawed. I doubt any kind of CRB check is required to work the lottery machines, yet they can be handling winning tickets worth £xmillions. True there are thousands of outlets that sell the lottery, and this is only 3 examples of fraud, but a great deal of money is involved.

Perhaps Camelot should be made to install self service checking machines in all outlets that sell tickets. They make vast profits, so they could stand the cost

[B00]

you an also ask for a printout of the lottery numbers from the terminal aelmpvw :-)

[B00]

Seriously? CRB checks on all the staff who operate the lottery machines? There's 20 of us alone in our piddling little store alone. Who's going to pay for those?

[SlackAlice]

So easy to check, unless your so lazy to even try.

[ummmm]

In my shop they rip the ticket up if its not a winner.

I play on line now...perfect for lazy people :-)

[Mamyalynne]

I agree with B00, keep hold of your ticket and ask for a printout of the the draw.

Plus, write your name and address on the back the minute you buy it, makes it a good deal safer.

[anotheoldgit]

Imran Pervais, Farrakh Nizzar, Anne Jeevarajah, Alfred Jeevarajah,

Now how did I know that these crooked criminals would not have English sounding names?

[Mamyalynne]

You had your Tarot read this morning ??

[lcg]

if you don't check your own ticket, you are a chump, imho. i wouldn't trust anyone with anything i do or am responsible for. makes it hard at work because i am a nurse and others are so lazy and careless.

[LazyGun]

If you could demonstrate that such attempted frauds were widespread, systematic, and successful, I might agree with you, but I have yet to see any evidence to suggest that actually is the case.

The ticket holder must surely have some obligation to, you know, actually check their own ticket to confirm the win?