Now, I’m not much of a gambler (I have enough bad habits, believe me). But occasionally, I’ll buy a ticket to try and test my luck. Without fail, I’ll bring it back to the store clerk who invariably scans it, tells me I’ve lost, and chucks it in the trash.
Like most people, I just chalk it up to bad luck— but, after hearing the following story, I wonder if I’ve been winning all along…
Earlier this year, a Winn-Dixie Liquors employee made national headlines when she was caught scamming an undercover agent sent to the store.
The agent was employed by the Florida Lottery Commission’s security division. He was conducting undercover visits to lotto locations to make sure vendors were following the proper lottery gaming rules.
On that day, Crystelle Yvette Baton was working the cash register. The agent handed her what he knew to be a winning ticket valued at $600. All Crystelle had to do was her job— but unfortunately, her greed got the best of her.
Crystelle scanned the ticket, and upon seeing the whopping $600 prize, she quietly pulled $5 from her purse, telling the agent that was his winning amount.
Later, when the agent returned to the store to investigate, he found the ticket hidden inside of her notebook. Crystelle was ultimately charged with larceny and grand theft, and her bond was set at $5,000. As you can imagine, she was also fired from her job. Winn-Dixie Liquors later released a statement, reading:
“We are taking this matter very seriously as the trust and safety of our customers is our highest priority.”
“The associate’s employment has been terminated.”
Unfortunately, these things happen more often than you’d think.
A few years ago, a similar case happened in Canada, involving the theft of a ticket worth 12.5 million dollars. According to CBC News, Kenneth Chung and his family owned a Burlington variety store, where they scammed customer lotto winnings over the course of eight months.
They were eventually apprehended when Kenneth’s sister couldn’t tell officials where or when she had purchased the ticket. When asked to legally swear that she didn’t know Kenneth Chung or his family, she immediately broke down.
The case was considered the most shocking in a slew of so-called “insider wins” that were examined by the Ontario Ombudsman at the time. A report even accused Ontario lottery regulators of “turning a blind eye” to vendors claiming stolen lottery prizes.
Although it’s sad to have to question your fellow human beings, I think the takeaway here is to always scan your lotto tickets with the self-scan machine.
Not only will you save your cashier a bit of time—you may also be saving your prize money!
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