UK Lottery officials have refused to pay out a £4 million (US$5.2 million) jackpot to two players who they suspect had purchased the winning ticket with a stolen debit card.
Lottery operator Camelot grew suspicious of Mark Goodram, 36, and Jon-Ross Watson, 31, when it emerged neither of them had a bank account to receive the winnings.
The pair reportedly could not explain where the debit card had come from, claiming it was a mystery friend named "John" — but could not give his surname, address or phone number.
While the payout is on hold as Camelot investigates, the jubilant mates were out partying — downing champagne and cocktails.
Goodram and Watson contacted local media to share their joy, showing off the £4 Million Red scratchcard which cost £10 and an official pink receipt confirming it was a winner.
Goodram — with 22 convictions for 45 criminal offences — said, "I'm off to see the Queen. This is brilliant. I deserved a bit of a break. We're made for life.
"I can't wait to spend the lot. "I'm going to buy luxury properties and look after myself."
Manchester United fan Watson, who has burglary convictions, said, "I'm off on a Caribbean cruise, then to Las Vegas. But I need a passport first.
"Mark and me have been mates since we were little. This win's unbelievable but we deserve the money fair and square. We were screaming in the street.
"We've told family and friends about our win but no one believes us."
The jobless pair initially claimed to have purchased the winning ticket with their last pocket change, but then changed their story to suggest they had given an unnamed pal £10 to buy the scratchcard on his debit card. But they could not give his full name or contact number and said he had disappeared "up North".
The Bolton-born pals have been partying in London after beating odds of 4,019,579/1 to win one of three maximum £4 Million Red scratchcard payouts. Bolton is located in the Greater Manchester area in North West England.
Both have appeared on lists of 'Bolton's Most Wanted' for alleged crimes in the area in recent years.
They said they bought the ticket at Waitrose in Clapham, South London, at 10.39 am on Easter Monday.
But they were crest-fallen last night as Camelot had still not paid out. The Lotto operator refused to confirm or deny the jackpot win.
Officials are confident the scratchcard is genuine but want to ensure the debit card has not been stolen. Camelot said they will not pay out to holders of stolen tickets but their website does not state the procedure for suspected stolen bank cards.
An insider said, "It's possible to buy scratchcards using contactless payment, with the purchaser not required to provide identification."
Goodram is understood to have been released on police licence from jail just days before the win.
He and Watson claimed they had no knowledge of a stolen debit card being used for the scratchcard.
Last year an unemployed father-of-four was refused a £200,000 lottery jackpot after being accused of having a faked 'winning' scratchcard.
Camelot refused to pay up to Eric Walker, 56, saying that one of the co-ordinates on the card was 'altered'.
Mr. Walker insisted he won 'fair and square' and said, 'In my eyes I've won £200,000 and I'm being cheated out of the money'.
Lottery officials said an F had been altered to appear as an E and was therefore not a winning ticket.
In 2016 Camelot was fined £3 million by the gambling watchdog after paying out a £2.5 million jackpot claim to someone with a 'deliberately damaged ticket'.
The penalty — to be donated to good causes — was handed down by the Gambling Commission over a 2009 incident that went undiscovered for six years.
Camelot had previously been fined £300,000 after publishing inaccurate Lotto Millionaire Raffle results on the National Lottery website for an hour, allowing them to be viewed by more than 100,000 people.
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Thanks to dannyct for the tip.
Nicked a card to buy a scratcher is the same as nicking the scratcher itself.
They contacted the media, what idiots. The UK Lottery are doing them a favour not giving them the money. Thay would just squander the lot and be back in square one. It is sad, but true, you can't help people who won't accept help.
I think the owner of the stolen debit card should get the prize money. I have emailed the National Lottery with that suggestion. It would be justice.
Do you think the debit card owner should get the prize money? If so, please let the UK National Lottery know your opinion.
The criminal record they both have stands out like a flashing light. They must know this and should do everything on the up and up with no mistakes.
Will the debit card owner be found?
That's a nice thought, but with all the fines Camelot has received, I don't think they are going to risk paying anyone any prize money this time. You should email the Gambling Commission since it's got the power over Camelot.
Hold on a minute there Danny Boy. Not everyone can afford a bank account, especially these two. They live in the moment, easy come easy go. My question is: Does a person living on the street need to have a bank account if, they somehow collect enough money to buy a lottery ticket and through pure luck win? Are they then grilled because they living & bank account situation? These guys are no altar boys, but they do have a winning ticket. What they need is to keep their mouths shut & get themselves an attorney. In the meantime-party on.Run up a tab, you can always tell your creditors “ We thought we were going to get paid.”
The lottery knows two things for certain:
(1) Neither of them has a bank account.
(2) They purchased the ticket with a bank debit card, which a person can only have if he has a bank account.
Do you see the discrepancy here?
The hypothetical situation you describe is not what's going on here. Until this mystery man "John" returns from his mysterious trip "up north," it's a safe bet they stole some bloke's debit card.
I took all of that into consideration CEJ- my thinking is what if these two plus “ John” were partying heavily, all three got pretty loaded. Money gets exchanged and now we have this. It is also possible that the money they supposedly gave John was stolen, so unless someone reports their debit card stolen,John reappear, these two guys have a chance, however slim. A few years ago, the unbelievable happened in CA. The lottery paid out without a ticket being produced, the guy or gal had some excuse that won the authorities over. Stranger things have happened.
Their biggest mistake was not realizing that Camelot knows everything. Camelot knows what numbers you played, the exact time you bought the ticket, where you bought the ticket, and how you paid for it. They should have come up with a better story to account for the debit card. Oh well. Dumb and Dumber are about to add another entry to their lengthy criminal record.
In KY we can purchase lottery tickets with credit/debit cards, BUT each store makes that decision so if you're in a hurry make sure you have enough cash because not all stores accepts card purchases for lottery tickets. Apparently in the UK lots of lottery ticket transactions are made using credit/debit cards paid directly to Camelot, but here in the states where most lottery purchases are made directly to retailers. Nobody ever required me to have a credit/debit card to cash winning tickets regardless of the amount either. The story doesn't say whether or not having a credit/debit card is required to collect winnings.
"Camelot said they will not pay out to holders of stolen tickets but their website does not state the procedure for suspected stolen bank cards."
Basically someone at Camelot believes these two guys stole a credit/debit card, used it to purchase a scratch-off directly from Camelot, and then tried to cash the ticket. Camelot has the card number used for the transaction and should simply contact the bank. If it's on a stolen card, contact the police.
Exactly. A very logical answer!
Seriously, after stealing a card and using it to purchase a scratch-off, they decided to directly contact the news media to confess their crime?
"Thay would just squander the lot and be back in square one."
Do people tell you how spend your winnings?
In the UK you can bet on anything, and since this story has received a lot of coverage in the UK I'm sure there are bookmakers taking bets right now on whether or not "John" is real and going to return from the Outer Hebrides to vindicate these two. I give it a million to one odds.
I know we can ignore other posters, but our stalker is getting really creepy.
Yep, that usually happens when they not getting the attention they think they deserve. The other thing is: l am NOT in these two UK guys corner. I am simply saying that the possibility exist where they "may" just get paid, there is still an investigation underway. What these two need is to hire an attorney. Put down the grog, clear your heads and get legal advice. I repeat, l am not going to bat for these clowns. In a way, this is no different than people jumping to conclusions, over that case in Canada where those 4 coworkers took legal action action their " lead hand" for not sharing the jackpot. That's their side of the story. Camelot is throwing down the gauntlet against these two- both situations are far from over...imho.
Camelot knows a lot, what they don't know is whether they finally going to pay these two guys or not. The Money is on hold and that makes anything possible. They probably trying to scare these two guys into saying " Okay, you win- we will forget about it." What these two are doing in defiance of Camelot, is uncorking the champagne & partying like its 1999. These guys have a pair, despite what you may think. They probably thinking, we will continue to do what we doing* drinking & planning, just as long as we not seeing the inside of a cell.
It has nothing to do with ''not everyone can afford a bank account". It has to do with, everyone who has a bank card has a bank account unless they are using a family or friend's bank card. If this was the case, than why could they not give the name of the person whose card it is? These guys are criminals who stole someone's bank card. The legal owner of the bank card should get the prize money and not these guys..
These guys could get a spot on stupid criminals show.
I like the integrity of the National Lottery, unlike one state here that despite no winning physical ticket, they paid out millions in a jackpot win anyway. Any guesses where that was?
Whoa winterhug, I noticed that you joined LP a week after me years ago. Where have you been, hibernating? Anyways, did you notice this little gem " An insider said, "It's possible to buy scratchcards using contactless payment, with the purchaser not required to provide identification."
Here are a few facts: They both have criminal backgrounds. They also know that should they suddenly come into wealth- it will be viewed as ill-gotten gain. Their options are limited and it is a double-edged sword. They either lie which they have for the most part or tell the " truth" which will be looked upon as suspect. These guys are boxed in a corner whichever way you look at it, but all will be revealed in time.
As for " The legal owner of the bank card should get the prize money and not these guys..That is preposterous. That is similar to saying- Thieves managed to get hold of your credit card, went on a spending spree and bought all kinds of junk, clothes, jewelry, a few guns and since your card was used, those items now belong to you. You don't play, you don't get paid.
* Off to see Endgame- have a good weekend.
"but all will be revealed in time."
Yep, this happened earlier this month and hopefully we'll get the results very soon. And then we can read the "I told you so".
Maybe one of our UK members will explain the difference between the debit card used to purchase the ticket and the cash cards we can purchase at our local Walmart type stores. This article doesn't explain how Camelot knew they used a debit card to purchase the scratch-off. When I use a card to purchase lottery tickets, the transaction is made to the store and the store settles with the lottery.
At best we know the winners have criminal records, the end.
These guy may be crooks but it's possible to have a debit card without a bank account. I once have a $50 rebate and the company send me a Visa debit card, which I can refill and keep until it expires 2021. That being said, these guys needs a lawyer if "John" exist and they had some drinking deal to use a card it will come out in an investigation. This is a weird one but we'll see how this plays out. I still say geta lawyer not work the media
"I think the owner of the stolen debit card should get the prize money."
So if I steal your credit card and buy a TV you think you should get the TV? And you therefore think that if I steal your credit card you should pay the bill, including the charges for whatever I buy with it?
"what if these two plus “ John” were partying heavily ..."
That's certainly a possibility. I'm even willing to consider that "John" is a guy they only met while they were partying and that they know nothing more than his first name, and for some reason they gave him the cash and he paid with his card instead of simply buying the ticket with cash. But what odds would you give for getting all the money back if the prize is paid out now and in 2 or 3 weeks Camelot finds out that the ticket was bought with a stolen card? On Camelot's end, I figure it's up to them to either prove within a reasonable time (whatever that might be) that the purchase was somehow fraudulent, or pay the prize and hope they can recover the money if the proof comes later.
I'm curious how Camelot knows that payment was made with a debit card. Waitrose is a supermarket, and I'd expect the store to accept payment as they see fit and simply make payments to Camelot with no reason for Camelot to know the payment method for any particular ticket. Since Camelot does know, the question is do they only know it was paid for with a card or do they have details about the card? If they have details they'll know if it's a real bank card or an unregistered card that's not connected to a bank account. If the card isn't registered to a bank account it may be impossible to determine ownership even with all the card information. If Camelot has no information on the card Waitrose may no longer be able to connect the specific card to the ticket. The one thing we all know about the card is that it definitely didn't belong to Mutt and Jeff.
Lottery tickets should be paid for with cash. Allowing people to use a credit or debit card is a bad idea.
"Allowing people to use a credit or debit card is a bad idea."
Why? Do you think the rest of us should also have power over your other financial decisions? FTM, do you understand what a debit card is?
Just to be clear Floyd, "allowing people to use a credit or debit card is a bad idea" ...for people living in the UK.
I agree that letting people gamble with a credit card is unwise, but I see no issue letting people use a bank debit card. The money is either in your account or not. If it's not, most banks won't let the transaction go through.
Here in China, I often pay with Wechat and Alipay. I don't have a credit card. Mobile pay is the the future and it's now. They buy everything with Wechat/Alipay. They are now using lots and lots of credit cards. Chinese people like to save a lot but these banks are trying to get them 'hooked' on 'buy now pay later'. Too bad it's catching on. I agree with cottoneyedjoe. Using money that's not yours for gambling is a slippery slope. Debit cards are okay but still you got to be careful.