Lottery winner loses out on her prize after becoming victim of fraud on Facebook

A lottery winner’s moment of celebration swiftly turned to devastation after she boasted about her win a little too hastily.

Drena Harris won $500 (around £397) on the Indiana state “Hoosier” lottery and was so delighted that she rushed to share the good news on social media.

Harris posted about her good fortune on Facebook, even uploading a photo of the winning ticket to prove it.

But before she’d even got round to claiming her prize, a conniving fellow internet user decided to beat her to it.

The unnamed fraudster used the snap of her ticket to scam a store clerk into giving them the money, local news outlet WKRCreports.

Had Harris won more money, it’s unlikely that the heist would have worked.

However, retailers that participate in the Hoosier Lottery can instantly pay out cash prizes of up to $600 (around £480), so the trickster easily got away with their ploy.

Other players of the local lottery have had better luck than poor Drena Harris(Hoosier Lottery)

So, we hear you ask, did Harris manage to rectify the situation in the end?

Alas, no.

By the time she realised what had happened, it was too late, and the lottery commission refused to fork out about $500.

Understandably, she appealed the decision with a judge, but by the time her case was assessed, the shop in which she’d bought her ticket had shut down, so there was no evidence to review.

Chuck Taylor, the lottery’s director of legal affairs and compliance, explained that she might have been able to sort things out had she acted sooner. But, as things stood, nothing could be done.

Taylor said in a statement shared with local media: “Ordinarily, if she would have acted quickly and came in soon after, we could have possibly [obtained evidence], but the retailer where it was cashed had not been a retailer for two months.

"It’s not a decision that we enjoy, but we can’t pay something twice."

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