Man in China shares photo of winning lottery ticket online, prize gets stolen

A China man who excitedly shared his winning lottery ticket online on Nov. 11 could not claim his prize after it was claimed by someone else.

China Press reported that when the man went to redeem his prize at the lottery station on Nov. 12, he was told that it had been claimed by another person.

Shared ticket on WeChat

According to Guangming Online, the man, Wang, confirmed on Nov. 11 that he had won the lottery.

Overjoyed, he shared his winning ticket in a community WeChat group.

Falsely claimed prize

However, another member of the group, Zhao, forwarded the ticket to the lottery station owner.

Zhao falsely claimed to be the winner and that he was in another city.

He then requested to claim the ticket via a WeChat transfer.

The owner quickly verified the details and transferred the money to him.

This was because the winnings were small and Zhao was a regular customer of the lottery station.

Returned prize money

The owner only realised his mistake when Wang, the rightful lottery winner, came to the store with his physical lottery ticket to claim his prize.

Following police investigations, the police contacted Zhao to explain the relevant laws and regulations.

Zhao then returned the prize money to the lottery station via WeChat.

Wang also forgave Zhao's actions and managed to claim his prize money.

Top photos via China Press