In a twist of fate, Drena Harris, an Indiana resident, lost her $500 lottery prize due to a social media post.
According to MyFox28 Columbus, Harris, who had won the amount on a Hoosier Lottery scratch card, decided to share her joy on Facebook by posting a picture of the winning ticket.
This act of celebration, however, turned into a misfortune.
An online scammer saw the post and used the ticket's image to deceive a store clerk into handing over the prize money. Since the Hoosier Lottery allows retailers to pay out prizes up to $600, the scammer successfully claimed Harris's winnings.
By the time Harris realized the scam and approached the lottery commission, it was too late. The commission, bound by its rules, refused to pay the same amount twice.
Harris attempted to appeal the decision, but the store where she purchased the ticket had ceased operations, leaving no evidence to support her claim. Chuck Taylor, the lottery’s director of legal affairs and compliance, commented that immediate action might have helped Harris's case, but the delay made it impossible to retrieve the prize.
This incident serves as a cautionary tale about the risks of sharing winning lottery tickets on social media before securing the prize. Harris's experience highlights the importance of privacy and discretion in such situations to avoid potential scams and losses.
Unfortunately, this incident shows that one must be very careful about taking pictures of their winnings if they have not been redeemed. This caution applies not only to scratch cards and lottery tickets but also to items like boarding passes and more.
However, it was 'only' $500 that Drena Harris lost, not $50,000 like this unlucky man almost lost when an employee tore up a ticket with a huge prize on it. Read more below.
