Massachusetts family returns winning scratch-off worth $1 million to customer who threw it out

Comment #34

billybucks — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 01:01:33 GMT

Which the clerk noticed since it was a 30 which he doesn't sell all that often and probably caught it in mid air when she tossed it and left.

Comment #33

winterhug — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 20:30:33 GMT

This story show that even in 2021 there are still people who only rely on their eyes to check their lottery tickets and do not use the self-scanner in the store. Than again there are still some stores that do not have the self-scanners and sometimes the scanners on the lottery ticket vending machines do not work. The story did say the woman was in a hurry and assumed the $30 lottery ticket was a loser as she scratched it.

Comment #32

billybucks — Thu, 27 May 2021 15:58:20 GMT

When they get the huge poster from the lottery that says We sold a million dollar scratch ticket underneath that should be the caption We almost tried to steal it from the customer who inadvertenedly threw it away but we thought better of it.

Comment #31

noise-gate — Wed, 26 May 2021 22:39:53 GMT

l stand by my remarks! The Shah's had DAYS in which to decide how they could get away with it. Probably read up on some stores owned by Patel families in the past that took a shot at it and came up short. It's as l said, had they simply said my son went through the garbage found an unscratched million dollar ticket returned it to the owner, calm would have set in: but the deviousness at play put a question mark over the Shah's in my opinion. The family didn't even try to make contact, they waite... [ More ]

Comment #30

Stack47 — Wed, 26 May 2021 22:26:51 GMT

They kept this quiet for a couple of days and realized they probably would not get away with it and would be scorned by the community.

That makes much more sense than the BS story they told to the lottery people.

Comment #29

billybucks — Wed, 26 May 2021 04:31:46 GMT

You make a strong point here. I am having trouble with the trash not being emptied for 10 days into the dumpster out back. Also the owners son sifting through what was presumably full or nearly full trash bucket in the store and pulling out and checking tickets and happen to come upon that one. I think store owners who don't empty their trash often and sift through it for thrown out tickets probably were aware of customers habits that scratch the tickets in the store. We have all seen and detest... [ More ]

Comment #28

HaveABall — Wed, 26 May 2021 03:43:57 GMT

This lottery vendor methodology brings up a valuable issue. I've always thought that when a customer hands a lottery ticket to a clerk and says it's for the garbage, or that it isn't a winner, the clerk should immediately give them the service of scanning it (even if they just left it on the counter, the clerk should be looking). The next service should quickly be audibly saying if it is a winner or a loser.

Comment #27

Feisty1 — Tue, 25 May 2021 22:46:09 GMT

People hold on to your loser scratch-offs, regular numbers (P3/4), mega, powerball etc. for the whole year. Come year end if you haven't won a sizeable pot then throw them out. You can claim the same amount of losers against your winnings come tax time. I'm speaking from experience here so consult your tax preparer if need be, not me.

And let me add that you have to show proof of losses with said tickets, which is why you need to hold onto them.

Comment #26

noise-gate — Tue, 25 May 2021 20:19:10 GMT

Finally, someone who gets it..

lf only common sense was that common. I mean the Shah family in my opinion could have dispensed with the grappling with the choice in front of them. Their actions changed my opinion on them. They also could have left out that bit of information on personal greed.

Sure, they returned the money but they needed prodding from abroad. Imagine if you will, you see your neighbor drop his wallet, you pick it up and count $700.00. Do you hesitate in handing it back or... [ More ]

Comment #25

1977 — Tue, 25 May 2021 20:07:23 GMT

I ain't feeling warm and fussy about the store owners..JUST SAYING...

Comment #24

1977 — Tue, 25 May 2021 20:04:51 GMT

Mmmm took more than a minute to decide what to do.....speaking from experience. The lottery office ask u when .and ...where you bought.your ticket ..and they Do have Video...

Comment #23

MsBee18 — Tue, 25 May 2021 20:02:49 GMT

I would lean to say it's illegal too. Retailer's could lie to their customers and tell them their scratch off is not a winner when it indeed is. That's fraud.

Comment #22

Stack47 — Tue, 25 May 2021 19:38:41 GMT

The Shah's grappled with the choice in front of them keep the $1 million winning ticket for themselves, or return it to the customer who threw it out?

That pretty much says they knew which customer bought the ticket. And maybe they read where it's against the law in Iowa to cash a ticket you didn't buy and decided getting $100,000 for selling the ticket was much better than taking a chance Massachusetts had similar laws.

Comment #21

rcbbuckeye — Tue, 25 May 2021 17:44:09 GMT

Legally they could have kept the ticket. Ethically, not so much.

There are those that do the right thing, and those that don't.

Comment #20

hlamb — Tue, 25 May 2021 16:12:49 GMT

You are wrong it was technically their money, because they found a ticket that was discarded nor signed by the purchaser so keeping it would've been legal. Unless their lottery prohibits retailers from participating which I don't think is the case only those employed by the lottery.

Comment #19

ekem6078 — Tue, 25 May 2021 15:53:41 GMT

If this happen hrs after she left the store, and no one else had bought a ticket from the roll, I would believe it. But 10 days come on.

Comment #18

ekem6078 — Tue, 25 May 2021 15:48:27 GMT

But the article stated that the ticket sat in the trash for 10 days. The only way the store owner would know that it belonged to her is that she was the only customer in the last ten days that bought a 30.00 ticket from that particular roll. Unbelievable. I'm not buying their story. Something is FISHY. I Smell Fraught.

Comment #17

ekem6078 — Tue, 25 May 2021 15:27:46 GMT

I though the same thing rebelboy. The the store owners son and family could have found the winning ticket an got afraid to cash it in. Then they found this loyal customer an made a deal with them to cash it in and they all spit it. I know there's still some good people in this world, but the red flag is how did they know it was her ticket in the trash.

Comment #16

Bleudog101 — Tue, 25 May 2021 15:06:04 GMT

She has one of those Microchip readers, scanned the ticket and got rid of it so she wouldn't be tracked. Don't you have one wander73

Comment #15

noise-gate — Tue, 25 May 2021 14:16:48 GMT

She was a regular customer who the Shah's considered gypping.

Comment #14

winterhug — Tue, 25 May 2021 13:57:55 GMT

The article said the woman was a regular customer in the store. Since the woman had just purchased the 30 dollar scratch-off in the store, which she probably was the only customer in the store at the time -odds are the store owners knew it was her ticket.

Comment #13

winterhug — Tue, 25 May 2021 13:51:49 GMT

The ticket owner said she was in a rush and scratched the ticket quickly without scratching the entire ticket and thought it was a losing ticket and left the store.

Comment #12

Bleudog101 — Tue, 25 May 2021 13:49:24 GMT

Thought crossed my mind too. Some folks are Blessed with a photographic memory or if they have video surveillance...yada yada. Sounds like she is a regular, how else would they know who her employer is AND her name

Comment #11

Goldrock$ — Tue, 25 May 2021 13:12:34 GMT

I suppose there probably isn't that many 30 dollar ticket sold there? But it still would take some investigation to figure out who it was who bought it? 10 thousand isn't chump change either. I hope she still kicked them a little extra also.

Comment #10

rebelboy15 — Tue, 25 May 2021 11:24:34 GMT

My Question is--How did they know that it was her ticket that was thrown away

Comment #9

Bleudog101 — Tue, 25 May 2021 10:57:41 GMT

Article said she was rushed...and the Shah family discovered she hadn't completely scratched the ticket which explains why she didn't know.

Comment #8

kao1632 — Tue, 25 May 2021 04:59:19 GMT

people throw out losing tickets all the time. Otherwise they would just pile up.

If you think a ticket is a loser, would you keep it? I wouldn't. Mind,I would also use the self-check barcode reader in teh shop (I am in NZ, they have one in my local shop). Only if that comes up not a winner would I throw out the ticket.

The woman thought her ticket was a loser.. so she threw it out.

Comment #7

KY Floyd — Tue, 25 May 2021 04:48:52 GMT

If you find that much money and don't give any thought at all to keeping it you're way out at the last lonely data point on the bell curve. This is one of the reasons for the saying that everybody has a price.

Comment #6

noise-gate — Tue, 25 May 2021 03:10:43 GMT

..so the Shah family asked other members of their group if they needed money not their money, but another person's money, and it's only after getting a call from India did their consciences kick in?.. okay.

I go back to thinking about what if this Shah family finally thought that the lottery officials would suspect them of thievery if one of the family members came forth to claim the million dollars?

Other store clerks have been arrested in the past, and l can think of that guy who hightai... [ More ]

Comment #5

wander73 — Tue, 25 May 2021 02:13:15 GMT

Why would anyone throw out a lottery ticket? Thats all I will say.

Comment #4

Tony Numbers — Mon, 24 May 2021 23:01:01 GMT

It mattered that it was the store owner that found the ticket, and traced it to the purchaser..Had any one else picked up the ticket from the garbage would be under no obligation. Nor would they think a found ticket would be a million dollars.

Comment #3

Tony Numbers — Mon, 24 May 2021 22:53:40 GMT

Guess it pays off looking thought the garbage

Comment #2

Nikkicute — Mon, 24 May 2021 21:48:44 GMT

Wow, nice to see an article of store owners doing the right thing.

Please, everybody double check those tickets!!

Big congrats to the winner

Comment #1

rcbbuckeye — Mon, 24 May 2021 20:42:43 GMT

Happy for her.

And nice to know that there are still good and honest people out there.

Massachusetts family returns winning scratch-off worth $1 million to customer who threw it out

Lottery Post — Mon, 24 May 2021 20:30:08 GMT

Lottery player made richer after a selfless act of kindness

By Kate Northrop

A woman almost lost out on a million dollars after throwing away a lottery ticket that she thought was a loser, but a family made a selfless decision to return the ticket to her when they discovered it was worth much more than she thought.

The Shah family, who runs the Lucky Stop liquor store on College Highway in Southwick, Massachusetts, had a regular customer hand back a $30 Diamond Millions scratch-off tick... [ More ]