Alex Trelinski
AN Alicante lottery ticket seller scammed a customer out of a €40,000 prize by keeping the winning ticket for herself.
The Policia Nacional have arrested the 42-year-old seller as well as her ex-boyfriend, 37, who failed to get the money at a lottery office.
The coupon holder bought the ticket from a lottery stand and was told the next day that it had only won a €6 prize.
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The seller gave her the paltry sum after claiming a terminal that verified winning numbers was not working properly.
She then checked on the consolation prize via her mobile phone.
The winner suspected nothing and handed over her ticket, but realised days later that she had been duped.
She returned to the stand where the woman told her that she had no knowledge over her €40,000 prize and that the ticket had been thrown away.
The angry client did not let the matter rest and went to a National Lottery office who advised her to make a complaint to the police.
The Policia Nacional discovered the seller had accessed her terminal three times to confirm the big prize and had lied to the customer.
The next phase of the deception backfired a few days later after her ex-boyfriend tried to collect the winnings.
Unfortunately for him and his former partner, the National Lottery was aware of what had happened after police asked them to block the payout.
The seller and the man have both been charged with fraud.
It’s not been revealed whether the genuine ticket holder has been awarded her €40,000 prize.
