"Lost" Lottery Ticket Saga

[B-Man]

Link to story on Foxnews.com (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,107454,00.html)

I truly hope they prosecute this woman (the one who claimed she lost the winning ticket) for filing a false police report. Did she really think she was going to get away with this scam?

[baggins]

correct me if i'm wrong. i didn't read the article you posted, but i did read a couple articles on the same topic.

in the article i read, i remember there being a statement that the police checked with the convenience store where the lady said she purchased the ticket and it was confirmed that the ticket was purchased there. is that true? did she in fact report having bought the ticket at the same place it was actually sold? is it just some freak coincidence that these 2 women who don't even live in the same state and yet the faker knew where the real ticket was purchased?

or am i making all this up and deluding myself?

[B-Man]

[slamdunkpro]

The head of the Ill. Lottery commission summed it up rather nicely in the paper today when he said "With lottery tickets possession is 10/10's of the law. The possessor is the winner"

[elwoodblues]

In general, they know (and announce) in a short period of time where the winning lottery ticket(s) were purchased.

[Rushmore]

All I can say is that it's a damned good thing that nobody here at 2+2 would ever be stooopid enough to actually BUY a lottery ticket.

I AM right, aren't I?

[Ulysses]

The lottery people can pay whomever they want, but their policy is not law. If I steal your lottery ticket, that doesn't change the fact that it's your property and I stole it.

This recent court case was similar in nature to this conflict.

Recent similar story (http://quickstart.clari.net/qs_se/webnews/wed/cf/Bca-greeene-broillet.R73L_DSU.html)

As for the current lottery claim, I just read CNN's article on it and based on the limited number of facts in the article, I have no idea who's telling the truth here. All I know is that if the woman really did lose her purse w/ that ticket in it, it sure does suck to be her.

[B-Man]

Sure, if her story were true, I would feel bad for her, but I am 99% sure she is lying.

For one thing, the woman who turned in the ticket had a receipt from the store where the winner was purchased, at the same time the winning ticket was purchased. She also had a lottery ticket from the previous drawing with the SAME numbers.

The woman who claimed to have "lost" the ticket has absolutely no evidence to back up her claim, other than her own word. Considering she is a convicted felon (convicted for fraud), I don't think her word should carry much weight.

It's pretty obvious to me she is trying to pull a scam. This falls under the category, "Don't believe everything you hear, especially when money is involved."

[J.A.Sucker]

Why not? There are a lot of us who enjoy -EV gambles on occasion, whether it's the craps tables when you're piss drunk in Vegas on vacation, or playing lotto. I don't buy a lot of lotto tickets (maybe 5 a year) but I get ample entertainment out of them. There's that split second when you're buying them and you think about what you'd do with 100 million that's pretty damned fun. That's definately worth my lost cash.

Plus, it is possible for lotto to be +EV, and this has been discussed before. However, these situations are fairly rare and obviously the variance is terrible. There's a lot more to gambling than just winning and losing. Sometimes, it's fun to just have fun - the same reason I buy into 5 dollar SNG's and repeatedly push all-in. It's fun.

[thylacine]

These stories are not similar at all. In fact they are about as opposite as you can get.

[Ulysses]

I'm sure you're more informed on this than I am. The only thing I read was the initial CNN article which implied that the woman making the claim had some evidence to show that there was a possibility she might be telling the truth. They also said nothing about a fraud conviction.

But regarding your points:

1) I agree completely - don't believe everything you hear.

2) All the receipt establishes is that the "winner" was at the place at that time. Wouldn't that be the case if she walked outside and found the purse?

3) If the "loser" bought a ticket with the same numbers last week, wouldn't the purse be a reasonable place for that ticket to be left?

Anyway, I don't know any facts here nor do I have any real opinion. I'm just pointing out that sometimes things are not as obvious as they seem at first glance. But, yeah, usually they are.

[Ray Zee]

the lady with the winning ticket says she has been playing the same numbers for two years and has a losing ticket with those numbers. so that is as much proof as needed. same winning numbers from the same store.

[MMMMMM]

...somewhere in the backwoods of Montana near Zee's place. I have already had the local police out looking for it with flashlights all night long, but they couldn't find it even though they looked everywhere. Zee must have grabbed it and absorbed it into his flock by now. I am going to sue and I want the ASPCA to prevent Zee from doing anything with that sheep until I have a chance to prove it is mine and get it back safe and sound. I know exactly which one it is and what it looks like, it is the cutest little sheep you ever did see. But Zee won't even let me on his land to identify it. Please some lawyer help me on a pro bono basis (and I will even pay you out of the money I will have coming in soon--it should be a LOT;-). My other lawyer dropped the case because he didn't realize how BIG(;-) this could be. I have had that sheep for years and I know what I know and nobody can tell me I am making all this up. I want my sheep back it is mine and nobody can say it's not my sheep! Zee don't touch that sheep, that sheep only loves me and it is my sheep! Some lawyer PLEASE help me get back what is rightfully mine and you will be very glad you did!

Thanks!

[Ulysses]

[ QUOTE ]
the lady with the winning ticket says she has been playing the same numbers for two years and has a losing ticket with those numbers. so that is as much proof as needed. same winning numbers from the same store.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's exactly what I thought at first, Ray. But then I thought about it. What if the woman really did lose her purse? What if that woman played the same numbers every week? Wouldn't it be very possible for her to have the same numbers on a ticket from last week sitting in her purse?

Because of that, I don't see how having that ticket changes anything. They were almost certainly both bought by the same person, that's all.

Yes, I agree it's quite likely a scam and the simple explanation of the ticket belonging to the person who has the ticket is very likely the truth. But we've all often seen much stranger things than this turn out to be not what we all assume upon first glance. That's all I was pointing out.

I mean, come on, we all thought OJ killed them, right? /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[B-Man]

She didn't claim she lost her purse, she claimed she dropped it and the ticket fell out without her noticing.

Anyway, the woman admitted today that she fabricated the entire story, and she is droping her lawsuit. She apologized to everyone involved, but I still hope she is prosecuted for filing a false police report.

[Ulysses]

Of course, that's what I figured along w/ the rest of you. I did however, give some degree of consideration to the claim based on the statement that "Police said her story was credible" in the initial CNN article.

Given the details as you've presented them, this sure does seem like a pretty halfhearted attempt at a scam. She did get her 15 minutes of fame, though. And a thread about her on 2+2! Who can even begin to quantify the value of that?

[Wake up CALL]

[ QUOTE ]
She did get her 15 minutes of fame, though. And a thread about her on 2+2! Who can even begin to quantify the value of that?

[/ QUOTE ]

I imagine a district judge will be able to quantify the long term value quite easily.

[MMMMMM]

Perhaps she should be given the option of being prosecuted, or spending a day in the stocks in the village square.