@SIRandyRaven
I would like to see you pass that "ticket overwrite" story to Lotto HQ as, if real, it is a technical fault which could be diddling thousands of players every week.
I don't buy tickets very often and, because it's on impulse, I go for lucky dips. So I'm not "emotionally attached" to any specific numbers and do not know them by heart. I don't watch the draw programs, don't use any phone app and am thus disconnected from the fact of whether my ticket has won. I am entirely dependent on the till operator to tell me, win or lose. It wasn't worth its own thread but, one time, I handed over the ticket, the assistant stepped sideways to the terminal, tucked behind something which meant I could not see any display for myself.
You mentioned a beep or ta-daa noise and I can no longer recall if there was one but I still felt something untoward was going on as there was a lot of arm movement before turning in such a way that I could see him tearing *a* ticket to pieces and immediately binning the pieces, as he said "sorry, no win".
Not having kept a record of my numbers, I had a sudden wish to have my ticket back, so I could check website/red button etc just to satisfy myself that this was true but it was too late. Petrol tills, didn't want to make a fuss.
Why *do* they insist on tearing up non-winning tickets? *Nothing* can go wrong if they are left intact. That was the thing that made me suspicious.
It occurred to me that opening with the words "can you check this for me, to see if it's won", flags the till operator that you don't already know and have not come with prior expectation of a payout: therefore prime target for the switcheroo trick if it is a winner. Keep a known dud ticket on hand, for ripping up.