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.