A lucky scratch card winner in Indiana saw her good fortune suddenly torn away from her after she made the mistake of posting about her win on social media.
Winning anything, whether it's a team sport, a friendly quiz or a carnival game, is a cause for celebration.
It's natural to want other people to know about your success; if you've earned it then why not take the chance to be a little bit smug by sharing it with the world?
That's apparently what Indiana woman Drena Harris was thinking recently after she bought a Hoosier Lottery scratch card and scratched away the surface to find herself a few hundred dollars richer.
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Harris won $500 on the scratch card - not a figure to be sniffed at on the approach to the expensive festive season - and celebrated by posting a picture of her winning ticket on Facebook.
Unfortunately, however, Harris learned that her celebration would come back to bite her before she'd even got chance to claim her prize.
After Harris posted the image of the winning ticket on Facebook, another internet user spotted it and used the photo to scam a store clerk into giving them the money.
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The scam might not have worked if Harris had won much more on the scratch card, but retailers that participate in the Hoosier Lottery are allowed to pay out prizes of up to $600, meaning whoever carried out the scam was able to walk away with the cash.
By the time Harris realized what had happened, it was too late and the commission refused to pay another $500.
The disappointed winner filed an appeal of the decision with a judge, but by that the time the store where she'd bought her winning ticket had gone out of business.
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With no evidence to review, Harris was left unable to claim her prize.
Chuck Taylor, the lottery’s director of legal affairs and compliance, explained that Harris might have been able to get the money if she'd acted sooner, but by the time action was taken there was nothing that could be done.
As reported by My Fox 28 Columbus, Taylor explained: “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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Let this be a warning - if you ever win something, make sure you claim your prize before showing it off!
Topics: Money, US News, Crime, Social Media
Emily Brown