Former lottery fan says she'll never play again after being treated like a "criminal"
By Kate Northrop
A devoted UK lottery player says she will no longer be forking out cash for lottery tickets after Allwyn launched a "disturbing" investigation into her identity.
A lottery winner says she was treated like a criminal in her own home after the UK National Lottery sent an investigator to her house to take photos of her — and she has still not received her prize.
Since Allwyn took over as the operator of the UK National Lottery in February, their recent investigation into one prize claim has left a former lottery fan disgusted with new security procedures.
69-year-old Amelia Barnham of Hammersmith, West London, scooped up an £800 (US$1,024) prize on a £1 Lotto HotPicks ticket in the Feb. 3 drawing, but her track record goes beyond that. In total, she's won £23,600 (US$30,206) in small prizes over time.
She and her husband, Tony, spend £60 on lottery tickets every week, and it's one reason why she is furious that Allwyn has launched an investigation into one of their most loyal players.
"This has stressed me out so much, and I am fuming," she told The Sun. "I have been treated like some sort of criminal — and having someone come to my house was intimidating."
Because of her record of having so many other smaller prizes, Allwyn sent an ex-detective to her home and told her she had to prove her identity.
"The numbers came from the national draw, so did they think I was printing the tickets or something?" the mother of three supposed. "I have never had this trouble before and I am worried it will put people off buying tickets."
The investigator who came to her house insisted he photograph Barnham as well.
"It's ridiculous. He [the ex-detective] was embarrassed and kept saying sorry," she added. "How can they treat people like this? It made me feel very uneasy and upset."
As angry as Barnham was, the investigator didn't want the frustration directed at him.
"I am only the messenger," he had told Barnham.
It all began two days after the draw. Barnham tried collecting her prize from the Post Office, but staff there told her they were unable to pay out her winnings. In the UK, lottery players were formerly able to collect winnings of some prize amounts from Post Office branch locations, but the Post Office ended their deal with the Lottery last month and no longer issues checks for prize claims valued between £500 and £50,000.
As part of their new claims process, Allwyn insists that winners now verify their numbers online or over the phone before sending their winning ticket by mail for a claim. As a result, players have been experiencing longer wait times to receive their payout, and the Lottery has seen greater volumes of inquiries from players.
"This is a new claims process following the Post Office's decision to no longer pay National Lottery retail prizes between £500.01 and £50,000," an Allwyn spokesperson said.
Barnham was directed to go back to the Tesco she originally purchased her winning ticket at to verify her win. She validated the ticket and was then told to contact Allwyn for the next step. After sending them photos of the front and back of the ticket, she received a claim number and thought she was done.
But then she was informed that an investigator would be coming to her home, who said her past wins had triggered a probe on her identity.
"I did ask why I was being investigated," Barnham said. "If this was to happen to someone really old, they're not going to like someone coming around their house. It might be quite frightening."
She said it's been more than a month since she's won, and still nothing yet from the Lottery.
"I think it's disgusting and disgraceful the way I've been treated and the way I'm sure many others have been treated," the winner continued. "I will never ever buy tickets again — not if I'm going to have this sort of trouble getting winnings which are owed to me."
"Security checks form a key part of the process of validating a winning ticket to ensure we maintain the integrity of The National Lottery," An Allwyn spokesperson stated. "All of our players are very important to us, and we aim to provide them with as positive an experience as possible, so we're sorry to hear of Ms. Barnham's concerns, and we'll certainly follow up with her as we're keen to address those with her."
"I would warn other players not to buy tickets, as I'd hate to think others will have to go through the same situation, as it's quite disturbing," Barnham relayed.
Thanks to dannyct for the tip.
I went to the store yesterday to buy my tickets for today's PB and tomorrow's MM.
I bought a ticket each plus the extra one dollar for $6 total.
I asked the cashier for a receipt. I told her I always want to have proof that I bought the tickets just in case your cameras ain't working. The time stamp on the receipt will be within the time frame as the one on the lottery tickets.
That way should I win we won't go down the path of proving am the rightful winner - I have the tickets and I have a lotto sale receipt and the time on both are consistent.
What other proof do you want, lol
Hmm, that sounds like good advice to me.
The ticket is a bearer instrument. If the lottery claims you did not purchase it, the burden of proof shifts to them, not you. Let them produce that evidence first before supplying anything additional.
A receipt will not help much if your name is not on it.
With all the cctv cameras in the UK, the lottery should have checked the cameras first before opening an investigation.
That's dumb, if they're going to launch a investigation they should check the cameras first! I play with lottery pools and we've won small prizes here and there across state lines [traveling nurse] over time. The fact that they are launching a investigation without a strong burden of proof hurt chance of folks playing the games. Like how do I know I'll get money if they investigate on a "Hunch" I'm winning too much.
The nice thing about US lottery is that each state lottery office employs a security personnel; they are former police detective who only purpose is to investigate big wins. Case and point, when my lottery pool won $4000 on a scratcher, they asked us about the purchase and time of day when we claimed it. They already knew pertinent details they were just verifying it was us.
I am also bothered by the invasion of privacy in their own home. This went way beyond due diligence procedures verifying a win. The couple should have been asked to bring ID with their address to a lottery office. If a photo needed to be taken, it should have been on lottery property. This is not a criminal investigation by law enforcement.
This all seems harassment based.
I would be worried having to send in all claims/tickets by mail. What if it gets lost?How long of a delay would it be then?
The receipt can help you when another person claims to be the owner of ticket, like the case with the California Powerball winner.
Yes the onus is on them, but you could make less work of it if you have more proof.
My thoughts thou.
The best option is to play online. You can't lose or forget to check your tickets. All small prizes are automatically credited to your online account.
I would never send my ticket via mail - unless it's $600.
I would also use insured mail.
I do that all the time, just out of an abundance of caution.
That would be awesome - but not all states have online play platforms.
That is comforting to hear.
I am also a very random type of player, I don't pledge allegiance to one store.
I buy my tickets in random places as I go about my errands. Sometimes I see this wine and spirits retailer and I walk in and buy a ticket.
It maybe hard to remember all the places.
Another example is when am on road trips, when I stop for gas I get a ticket or two. If I won and they asked me the name of the store, I would have a hard time lol
$4000/yr on State lotteries! Take that and instead invest in bitcoin in a Roth IRA account for the last 10 years. The amount in the retirement account would be greater than almost all jackpots. And taxes on gains would already be accounted for, so no tax bite of 40% to 50% like with a State lotto jackpot win.