Lottery fraud case - whats your opinion?

[Annie23]

I have just been reading on the news that a couple who found a lottery ticket have been ordered to pay back the original owner of the ticket the remaining monies left from the £30,000 win which I think is fair enough. But, they have also been found guilty of fraud and each given a 11 month suspended sentence. They have argued that they didnt know they were commiting fraud as they found the winning ticket on the floor of a co-op supermarket. Apparently the original owner had a reciept which is how Camelot were able to trace the ticket.

Well I am a bit surprised at this, yes they should be made to pay her back and anyone with a conscience should have rung Camelot to say they had found a large winning ticket (in saying that I'm not sure I would have rung camelot as I didnt know that the tickets are traceable, cos I'd have assumed Camelot would have pocketed the money) But I think its a bit harsh they have been found guilty of fraud and now have a criminal record. I didnt even know you could get a reciept for your lottery ticket. So if someone found a tenner in the street and kept it is that fraud?

Whats your opinion?

anne xx

 

[adelekeegan1]

I was shocked by the whole thing.

They have to pay back what they haven't spent..........why not everything? if it is a matter of fraud, why is it OK to keep half??

The legitimate owner of the ticket is suing Camelot apparently.........on what grounds, they paid up in good faith, how is it their fault ???

If this ticket had just been a £10 winner, would this ever have happened........after all fraud is fraud regardless of the value.

To my mind the whole world has gone mad

 

[leonnib]

i dont think they should have been made to pay it back as they found it. they never stole it. it aint like it was that persons credit card or something.
anyway thats my opinion i think that its too bad the original owners and lost it and it defientely should not have been taking to a criminal court as was it really a criminal offence?.... not in my opinion..
ive found £50 before a few years ago does that mean i get a criminal record for it and have to pay it back...

and if i found a winning ticket i cant say i would be on the phone to camelot giving it up.. i think its ridicoulous and camelot should have left it to their discretion if they paid the original owners not make the people who found it seem like they commited some offence as after all they did find it. as far as im aware they is no persons name or anything printed on a a lottery ticket.

(prepares to hide in corner)

 

[Annie23]

I know I think its really stupid, the whole thing and yeah I agree they should pay back the whole amount. But fraud!!! I'm perplexed. If I found a purse I would hand it into the police station even if there was no id, chances are thats the first place the owner is gonna look. but a piece of paper no matter its value, i wouldnt have thought it was possible to trace the owner.

I once lost a lottery ticket, I was convinced I left it on the counter so I rung the shop but they couldnt find it, obviously someone found it and kept it. So it was my loss I shoulda been more careful!

anne xx

 

[leonnib]

i read this in the paper a while back and thats what i thought..

they lost it yes its sad it was the winning ticket..but hey you should be careful with your ticket.. ive lost a ticket before.. as im sure other people have it didnt win but if it had would i not be responsible for losing it..

am i going to blame someone else for me losing it :irked:..

but i dont think they should have paid back.. i dont see it as fraud tbh.
i always assumes that if i ever has the pleasure of winning and lost it then someone else can easily claim as there isnt anything like my name or signature on the paper..

i just think the whole thing is ridicoulous and if i was the camelot would have just told them to be more careful next time :green:

 

[mercedes69]

If I had found a lottery ticket on the floor I would keep it if there was nothing on it with a name or anything...
If it was then a £30,000 winning ticket I would have cashed it.
I would have spent the money in about 10 seconds flat...

and would have been shocked if I was then took to court over it....

To be honest I thought the pensioner who lost her ticket...saying on tv that Camelot have been 'negligent' over the whole thing was rather laughable!!!!!
She lost the bloomin ticket in the first place

Yes we can all be daft and lose things I know...

but to be honest the one person to blame in all this is the old lady who dropped her ticket in the first place in my opinion...

and where do we draw the line on the amount...?

if I saw a penny on the floor...do I hand it in to the nearest Police Station or take it to the Bank of England??? Am I committing a crime if I keep it?

But to those who now think I am a cruel, heartless ******....:lol:
If I found a purse or indeed anything like that...I would always hand it in...plus if I found a bloomin lottery ticket I would hand it in too now lol...

A £20 note fell out of the basket holding the magazines etc on the plane last week... I kept it... Oooops!!!!

 

[leonnib]

If I had found a lottery ticket on the floor I would keep it if there was nothing on it with a name or anything...
If it was then a £30,000 winning ticket I would have cashed it.
I would have spent the money in about 10 seconds flat...

and would have been shocked if I was then took to court over it....

To be honest I thought the pensioner who lost her ticket...saying on tv that Camelot have been 'negligent' over the whole thing was rather laughable!!!!!
She lost the bloomin ticket in the first place

Yes we can all be daft and lose things I know...

but to be honest the one person to blame in all this is the old lady who dropped her ticket in the first place in my opinion...

and where do we draw the line on the amount...?

if I saw a penny on the floor...do I hand it in to the nearest Police Station or take it to the Bank of England??? Am I committing a crime if I keep it?

But to those who now think I am a cruel, heartless ******....:lol:
If I found a purse or indeed anything like that...I would always hand it in...plus if I found a bloomin lottery ticket I would hand it in too now lol...

A £20 note fell out of the basket holding the magazines etc on the plane last week... I kept it... Oooops!!!!

:green: if i found one i still wouldnt hand it in just make sure i spend it all so i dont have to pay anything back

 

[champagne]

£20 in the street, keep it.

£20 dropped by someone ive seen, hand it back.

Lottery ticket in the street keep it.

Lottery ticket dropped by someone Ive seen hand it back.

I dont belive it was theft, I dont think they commited a crime, unless they saw her drop it, then it would be morally wrong to have kept it.....

 

[mercedes69]

£20 in the street, keep it.

£20 dropped by someone ive seen, hand it back.

Lottery ticket in the street keep it.

Lottery ticket dropped by someone Ive seen hand it back.

I dont belive it was theft, I dont think they commited a crime, unless they saw her drop it, then it would be morally wrong to have kept it.....

Exactly put into words what I was thinking but didn't know I was thinking it :lol:

I have often seen someone drop money and either told them or handed it to them...and I would definitely hand a dropped lottery ticket back to someone if I saw them drop it or it fall out of a pocket or something...

So I think you have summed it up perfectly there...well done lol....

 

[min11]

As far as I am aware though the rules are that if found a lottery ticket must be handed in, if after 180 days the original purchaser isn't found or comes forward thern the money goes to the finder, it might even say that in the rules on the back. Fraud would be because when they called in the claim they will have said they bought the ticket, which they didn't and had they been honest they would have had to hand it in so presumeably they had an inkling of the rules. There have been cases of winners who haven't claimed and national news programs have featured the story as the deadline approaches with details of where the ticket was bought to get them to come forward, even if they lost the ticket.

I couldn't, despite debts etc which would be solved by that amount of money, live with myself if I'd claimed it knowing I found the ticktet. If it was life changing for me then it probably would have been for the buyer who might for all I know how watched his/her usual numbers come up and face knowing they lost their ticket.


:hug::hug:

 

[Annie23]

I didnt know that when you ring up you have to agree that you bought the ticket, in that case they have lied and it is fraud.

I agree that I personally couldnt in all conscience claim a large win if I found a ticket, I would feel really guilty.

anne xx

 

[leonnib]

i could unless as said before i had seen them drop its slightly different.. like if someone drops money id tell them like people have told me.

still dont see it as fraud in the circumstances ive read in the paper

it wouldnt even ocur to me to do all that the original owner had done..
id just be really upset that id lost it and know it was my own fault.

 

[Kim Lawless]

It's a strange one as it's neither one thing or the other.

Maybe they should have taken the found ticket to the police (getting a receipt of course) and if it wasn't claimed, then it would have been theirs to keep.

Very odd that they've only had to pay back what they hadn't spent.

 

[leonnib]

It's a strange one as it's neither one thing or the other.

they have to pay back 15,000 as the bank have frozen the other 15,000.
so it will be all of the 30,000 they took.

they have to pay back what they spent as bank has froze the rest. so really they would be paying back all of it.

 

[jcpark]

I have always handed in money I have found - unless it is so small that it the cost of handing it in exceeds the value - ie pennies.
I have also corrected cashiers when I have been given too much change. It is not my money and therefore I have no right to it. I also try to put myself in the position of the person who has lost it and how it could affect them.

 

[bubbabinks]

I was discussing this with my hubbie the other night and I was saying how ridiculous this is, they found it they didn't mean any harm blah, blah blah:lol:
Hubs said "ah but it is fraud because by buying the ticket you enter into a contract with Camelot that they will pay out a sum of money if you win and they knowingly cashed that ticket knowing that they had not entered into that contract"

So I asked him if you found it what would you have done? Answer: Cashed it and spent it like anyone else would have:lol:

To be honest if I knew it was such a big win I would hand it in to the Police or contacted Camelot to inform them.
Yes the money would be nice to pay off our debts and buy a new car, holiday etc but I would feel guilty and not enjoy it

 

[Lynne Baker]

I'm rather unsettled by some of the answers given here!
Had I found it I would have handed it in to the police with a receipt, having photocopied it first. I didn't buy the ticket therefore I wouldn't be entitled to any winnings associated with it, and my conscience and innate sense of justice would preclude me from profiting from someone else's loss.
Do I think they've committed fraud? Hell, yes! They knowingly claimed the money when the ticket was not theirs.

So, if in your salon you found a twenty quid note on the floor, would you just pocket it, saying, well, they shoulda [sic] been more careful? Or would you put it in an envelope, put a notice up saying we have found something, come and talk to us if you think it's yours?

Hmmmm.

 

[Ruth Mills]

Or would you put it in an envelope, put a notice up saying we have found something, come and talk to us if you think it's yours?

Ah, but I am guessing you wouldn't say what the "something" was then? In case of some cheeky person fraudulently claiming that it was their 20 quid that you'd found (as would almost certainly happen)...

 

[Lynne Baker]

Of course!
And I would quiz them on when they were in, when the money was found, which treatment room etc. And if I ever found out that an employee had pocketed the money their feet wouldn't touch the ground. It, and this lottery case, is theft. There is no grey area.

 

[leonnib]

Ah, but I am guessing you wouldn't say what the "something" was then? In case of some cheeky person fraudulently claiming that it was their 20 quid that you'd found (as would almost certainly happen)...

that is true ha ha.
if in my salon id wait to see if someone came back as chances they will as some would know they had last seen it at this time etc.

i wouldnt put up a notice as you'd never know if its was the right person when the right owner would contact the salon to check if they had lost something possibly.

thats what id do anyway.. keep it in a envelope to see if anyone came back to my salon. or even call customers to see if they had lost 'anything' if salon wasnt that busy its easier to narrow it down.