Man in China flaunts lottery win in WeChat group, fellow member uses his photo to claim prize

Man in China gets lottery prize ‘stolen’ after sharing photo of winning ticket online

After discovering that he had just won the lottery, a man in China decided to share news of his windfall online, even including a photo of the winning ticket.

Unfortunately for him, one opportunistic member of the group went ahead and used the photo to cash in the winnings.

Using photos of the winning ticket to steal someone else’s prize

According to China Press, the man discovered the ‘theft’ when he went to claim his winnings last Wednesday (12 Nov), only to discover that someone else had already done so.

He immediately reported the matter to the police, who promptly launched an investigation into the case.

Police discovered that after the man had shared a photo of his winning ticket online, another man — surnamed Zhao (surname transliterated from Chinese) — forwarded the photo to a lottery official he knew.

Zhao then used the photo to falsely claim that he had won the lottery. He asked to claim the prize via an online transfer, claiming he was out of town.

Since the lottery official knew Zhao as a regular customer and the winnings weren’t substantial, he didn’t suspect anything amiss.

It was only when police arrived to investigate that he realised what had transpired.

Ended with amicable resolution

When contacted by the police, Zhao realised the severity of his actions. He quickly returned the prize money to its rightful owner.

With the police’s involvement, the two parties were able to reach a peaceful resolution — the victim forgave Zhao for the theft and was able to claim his winnings.