Authorities in Nebraska, USA are asking the public for help to trace a woman who bought a winning lottery ticket with a counterfeit bank note! The lady purchased a scratch off ticket with a $100 note but after she left the store it was discovered that the note was actually fake.
The unidentified woman walked into the Papillion grocery store, bought some shopping and a scratch off ticket. The ticket was a winner and after celebrating in store, the lady collected her winnings, her change from the $100 and walked away with her shopping.
The Papillion store in question even has CCTV footage of the unnamed lady celebrating and hi-fiving the store staff as she wins the scratch off, and now police are using this footage to attempt to identify her. The police don’t want to congratulate her on the win, they’d like to know where she got a counterfeit $100 bill to spend in store in the first place.
The Papillion Police Department in Nebraska are currently appealing for witnesses, or someone that knows the lady to come forward so that they can speak to the winner.
It’s possible this lady did not know the note was counterfeit, particularly if it was a good fake, after all the store staff didn’t realise until she had already collected her winnings and left the store. It’s one of the more unusual cases that police deal with when it comes to lottery crime, but whether deliberate or accidental, this is a case of fraud and local police are taking it very seriously.