Man goes into hiding after falsely claiming to win lottery jackpot

Aug 20, 2007, 8:35 am (9 comments)

Euro Millions

A father is in hiding from his furious family after tricking them into thinking he had won $85.88 million in the Euro Millions lottery.

Fergus Frater, 46, promised his son Jordan, 25, a $12.5 million share of the jackpot and told his sister Lorraine that she would get a $2.5 million cut of the winnings, the Daily Mail reported.

He also fooled his local newspaper, The Argus, who splashed the story on its front page.

Son quits job

Jordan, a struggling roofer, quit his job. He and pregnant girlfriend Lucy Scrivens planned to move to Australia with their young daughter.

But he soon realized something wasn't quite right when the name of the real winner, postal worker Angela Kelly, was revealed and Mr. Frater disappeared from his home town of Littlehampton, West Sussex, the Daily Mail reported.

Jordan was forced to ring his boss and ask for his job back.

"We're so [poor] so it was a dream come true," he told the Daily Mail.

"I could kill him ... but he's gone to ground and I've no idea where he is.

"He's never done anything like this before.

"We just can't work out what possessed him but he was telling everybody and the whole town thought he'd won."

Mr. Frater's sister, Lorraine told The Argus her brother told her he was planning to use the money to move back to his native Scotland.

"He told me he won the lottery and has just totally disappeared off the face of the Earth ever since," she said.

Loyal locals

Some locals jumped to Mr. Frater's defense with friends telling the Daily Mail he genuinely believed he won the jackpot.

Landlady of the Marine pub, in Littlehampton, Penny Ward stood by her friend.

"I think he believed he had won to be honest. It was only yesterday we found out who really won it," she said.

Herald and Weekly Times

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tnlotto1's avatartnlotto1

when i read the headline i thought he was a con artist but after reading the story it sounds like he didnt check his ticket correctly and he really thought he won. he should have confirmed it was a winner with the lottery people before he made promises to his family but maybe he was just excited about winning and wanted to share it with his loved ones. his son is making his dad feel worse by saying he wants to kill him so if he is hiding he will stay hidden until his son cools off. his son should be worried if his dad is still alive because alot can happen when so many people think you have won the lottery.

RJOh's avatarRJOh

People shouldn't count on what they think other people have until they've actually given some of it to them, even if the other people are their parents. 

I once thought I had won the Ohio Super Lotto when I posted the winning numbers to my play file and history file on my computer.  I was shaky for a while until I checked my tickets and realized my mistake.  So when I later actually did match 5of6 I rechecked my files, the website and anything else I could think of before becoming excited.  Even when you don't win, you have a memory of how it felt thinking you had won.  If you share the news with others and find out later it's not true, you also find out what they really think about you and that can hurt.

I know now I would never share the news with anyone until I had rechecked every source and my tickets at least five times.  If it still turns out I was wrong I'll feel bad and if the ones I shared the news with loved me they won't hate me. 

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

"People shouldn't count on what they think other people have until they've actually given some of it to them, even if the other people are their parents."

  I Agree!

"Even when you don't win, you have a memory of how it felt thinking you had won."

Mistakes happen all the time.  Recently I thought I was going to receive a lot of money because of a typo in a letter.  For example "You will be getting a check in the amount of $55,000" instead of $5,000.  You are still happy when you get the smaller amount, but the excitement stays with you for a while, especially if you started to make plans. This is why it's always best to take a deep breath and wait.  I just thought of something my Grandfather used to say "Man makes plans and God laughs."

Coin Toss's avatarCoin Toss

I could see fibbing about sinning the lottery if you had won it- saying you hadn't- but to make people think you have and you haven't? Does not compute.

LckyLary

Usually it's the opposite of this, where someone DOES win and the FIRST THING they want to do is go live in seclusion in a remote cave like Loonie Bin! Half the fun of winning is to watch how everybody around you goes ape begging you for $ and you get to tell some of them "where were you when I was poor?" Maybe that's what this person wanted was to see the reaction of everyone or be more liked at least temporarily.

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Quote: Originally posted by Coin Toss on Aug 20, 2007

I could see fibbing about sinning the lottery if you had won it- saying you hadn't- but to make people think you have and you haven't? Does not compute.

I have my doubts about a few posts here at LP when I read someone or someone they know makes a living by playing the pick3 and/or pick4 games.

spy153's avatarspy153

I think he just thought he really won. My hubby misreads his scratch offs all the time. He has thrown away money he had won because he thought he lost and fussed with clerks thinking he had won when he had lost. Some games just aren't that clear about the rules of how you win and he gets really excited easily.

jeffrey's avatarjeffrey

Quote: Originally posted by RJOh on Aug 20, 2007

I have my doubts about a few posts here at LP when I read someone or someone they know makes a living by playing the pick3 and/or pick4 games.

Depression can make people say anything to get attention. Functional schizophrenics will say anything for attention too.Thud

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Fergus Frater was just another joker, remember Bod Pagani the so-called out-of-work truck driver who claimed he won the $365M PowerBall jackpot last year, ABC scooped the story and ran with it.  "Good Morning America" and "World News Tonight" did on-camera interviews with this guy. 

With MM and PB reaching record highs again, we may see another hoax here the states again.

https://www.lotterypost.com/news/129113

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