Oldham shopkeeper tried to cheat customer out of £1 million lottery win

[enaid]

Shopkeeper Farrakh Nizzar tried to claim lottery winnings Photo: MEN Syndication

Lottery winners Maureen and Fred Holt Credit: MEN SyndicationA shop worker has admitted attempting to falsely claim a £1 million lottery prize.
Farrakh Nizzar told great-grandmother Maureen Holt, 77, she had won nothing when he scanned her EuroMillions ticket at a convenience store in Oldham, Greater Manchester.
He reportedly told her he would throw away the ticket but then later phoned a lottery hotline to say it was he who had bought the lucky jackpot ticket from the store.
His con unravelled when it was discovered that it had been purchased on Mrs Holt's Tesco Clubcard at a Tesco Extra store in the town, rather than at Best One Convenience Store in Watersheddings Street.
Mrs Holt and husband Fred, 80, were on holiday when the EuroMillions UK Millionaire Raffle draw which matched their numbers was made in June.
Nizzar, 20, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation yesterday, a court official at Oldham Magistrates' Court confirmed.
The defendant, of Woodlands Road, Crumpsall, Manchester, has been remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing hearing at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on August 20.
Police were made aware last month of allegations surrounding the attempt to claim a prize from Camelot, operator of the National Lottery, a spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said.
Detective Inspector Danny Inglis said: "We have worked very closely with Camelot throughout this investigation and will continue to do so during the remainder of the judicial process."
A spokesman for Camelot said: "I can confirm that we believe we have identified the genuine owner of the EuroMillions UK Millionaire Raffle prize from the draw on Friday June 22 2012.
"We are aware of the charges that Farrakh Nizzar pleaded guilty to yesterday. However, given the ongoing legal process and the fact that Mr Nizzar is yet to be sentenced, it would be inappropriate for Camelot to comment further on this case."
He added: "Camelot takes matters of propriety very seriously. Our aim as operator of the National Lottery is to ensure we raise as much money as possible for National Lottery Good Causes through selling lottery tickets in a socially-responsible way. This involves running the National Lottery with the utmost integrity.
"In order to do this, we adhere to the highest standards in player protection. Our operations and processes are subject to the scrutiny of our own internal auditors, independent external auditors, and representatives from our regulator, the National Lottery Commission.
"We are committed to investigating allegations made against any retailer selling National Lottery tickets. Such allegations are very rare - we work with approaching 30,000 retailers throughout the UK, with millions of transactions taking place every day.
"As part of this ongoing commitment, I can confirm that we have suspended a National Lottery retailer in Oldham, pending an internal investigation."
Camleot said that prize claimants have to go through a number of security procedures as part of the ticket validation process to determine whether they are the rightful owner.
All players of the National Lottery prize draws are encouraged to sign the back of their tickets and check if they have won before presenting them at shops.

http://www.itv.com/news/granada/2012...n-lottery-win/

[enaid]

Re: Oldham shopkeeper tried to cheat customer out of £1 million lottery win

A bit of advice on there on how to ensure this wont happen to you, after all how many go in and just ask the shop keeper to 'check my ticket'.
Don't do the lottery meself, not after seeing what they used the money for not long after it started.


Churchill's heirs spent two decades trying to sell the vast collection, which was eventually bought using £12m of National Lottery money in 1995.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3680922.stm

[bluebottle]

Re: Oldham shopkeeper tried to cheat customer out of £1 million lottery win

Well done, Camelot.

[Guest]

Re: Oldham shopkeeper tried to cheat customer out of £1 million lottery win

Makes you wonder how many smaller wins have been pocketed in this way.

D

[enaid]

Re: Oldham shopkeeper tried to cheat customer out of £1 million lottery win

Makes you wonder how many smaller wins have been pocketed in this way.

D

That is the reason I posted this, I doubt very much it was the first time he tried this, but maybe the first time he got caught.

[ploddertom]

Re: Oldham shopkeeper tried to cheat customer out of £1 million lottery win

The biggest problem with Lottery terminals in my view is that there is nothing on the customer side that shows a screen whereby you can see what if anything comes up. You could win £200 and the shopkeeper could just say you have won a tenner unless you ask to see the payment slip. This is not the first time this sort of thing has happened, something similar happened over a scratchcard only a few months back.

[Magrew]

Re: Oldham shopkeeper tried to cheat customer out of £1 million lottery win

I can see how this can happen with a lottery ticket but doesn't a scratchcard tell you how much you have won as you scratch it?

This one was caught because the original ticket could be linked to a specific purchase through a loyalty card. If they had paid cash in a corner shop however there would have been no such trace, he would have got away with it in that case. The opportunity remains, it appears that it is just circumstances that will catch those inclined to taking the chance. There appears a very high chance that these people could get away with it.

Odds are that you don't have a winner so if you are told you have lost then that is what you expected to hear anyway so you would not normally argue the toss. Only safe way is to check it yourself unless they set up a failsafe system that allows customers to view the check as PT suggests above.

The potential is millions of pounds after all, odds are slim but it is worth taking care over.

[Bill-K]

Re: Oldham shopkeeper tried to cheat customer out of £1 million lottery win

FWIW, I do Lotto. But I do it online, and sure as hell don't ask some cornershop scammer to check out my ticket. But there are so many people in this country who STILL trust these crims. It is such a shame that decent peeps seem to be so outnumbered by creeps. Or am I being arrogant in my assumptions ?

[dogtired]

Re: Oldham shopkeeper tried to cheat customer out of £1 million lottery win

and the on line check still tells you to verify at an "approved" outlet

[ploddertom]

Re: Oldham shopkeeper tried to cheat customer out of £1 million lottery win

FWIW, I do Lotto. But I do it online, - which is what Camelot want everyone to do & therefore get rid of all terminals bar those in Tescos etc -and sure as hell don't ask some cornershop scammer to check out my ticket. But there are so many people in this country who STILL trust these crims - you should come to me and say that. It is such a shame that decent peeps seem to be so outnumbered by creeps. Or am I being arrogant in my assumptions ? YES

PTPT

[ploddertom]

Re: Oldham shopkeeper tried to cheat customer out of £1 million lottery win

I can see how this can happen with a lottery ticket but doesn't a scratchcard tell you how much you have won as you scratch it? You'd be surprised at those who try to alter the ticket which is why it must be scanned.

This one was caught because the original ticket could be linked to a specific purchase through a loyalty card. If they had paid cash in a corner shop however there would have been no such trace, he would have got away with it in that case. The opportunity remains, it appears that it is just circumstances that will catch those inclined to taking the chance. There appears a very high chance that these people could get away with it. For every ticket sold Camelot knows exactly when & where it was done, the details are on the ticket. Forscratchcards again details on the ticket may reveal where it was sold.

Odds are that you don't have a winner so if you are told you have lost then that is what you expected to hear anyway so you would not normally argue the toss. Only safe way is to check it yourself unless they set up a failsafe system that allows customers to view the check as PT suggests above.

The potential is millions of pounds after all, odds are slim but it is worth taking care over.

I joke with my regulars about having a little switch under the counter & they get their own back by asking for a ticket from my faulty machine. Obviously there has to be trust on both sides.

[Magrew]

Re: Oldham shopkeeper tried to cheat customer out of £1 million lottery win

I understand why the scratchcards have a serial number to identify their authenticity, what I was trying to say was the punter can work out for themselves if their scratchcard is a winner.

Lottery tickets though are not so easy for everyone to check particularly those that are less confident with technology. And a ticket bought on its own with cash will not have any link to a specific individual. It will only be linked to where and when it was sold. If bought with a card then it will be esier to connect it to an individual.

I am not saying that everyone should buy their tickets by card, I am just observing the weakness which is prevelant in that course. I buy my partner's tickets with cash in a corner shop. I always have done, but there is no way that I could prove that was the ticket I bought with any certainty. We check the ticket at home though because we can.

[evilhamster]

Re: Oldham shopkeeper tried to cheat customer out of £1 million lottery win

and the on line check still tells you to verify at an "approved" outlet

i think what bill means is the online lottery account you can get with cammelot so no physical ticket to check

[Bill-K]

Re: Oldham shopkeeper tried to cheat customer out of £1 million lottery win

and the on line check still tells you to verify at an "approved" outlet

Sorry, I've been away for a week - in a place with NO internet !!! Yes - as EH says, my post referred to running an online Lottery account, where no paper tickets are issued - so I deal directly with Camelot (I think), and cut out the middle man.

Obviously there has to be trust on both sides.

I apologise to Tom for the tone of my post (#8), which I guess implied that every corner-shop owner or employee was a scammer. As Tom has said, a shopkeeper develops a 'rapport' with their regulars, and a certain trust emerges from this. But until such a trust exists, then the shopkeeper is a potential scammer - as much as the customer is a potential shoplifter. Gone are the days when we could give strangers the benefit of any doubt. So - the shopkeeper uses CCTV & 'tags' higher-value goods, etc., etc. But the customer has no equivalent security measures, and has to rely on their own instincts. In any shop, I am a potential shoplifter, and the shopkeeper is a potential scammer - and neither of us should give the other the benefit of any doubt.

Perhaps I WAS being somewhat arrogant in my assumption that decent peeps seem to be so outnumbered by creeps, and perhaps I should say that my assumption is based purely on my own experience, and is nothing more than a jaded view held by someone who has worked in retailing for many years, and latterly as a taxi-driver. All I have to go on is my experience - and it tells me that every stranger is a scammer until proven otherwise.