The lottery told us our $500k ‘winning’ scratchcard was worthless – now we might sue
A WOMAN has revealed she's planning on suing a lottery company after the instructions on her lottery ticket implied she'd won $500,000 when she hadn't.
Geraldine Steele, from Texas, believed she'd won big after scratching off her $5 lottery ticket.
The Dallas News reports that Steele had purchased a Fun 5 scratch-off that read “Reveal a ‘money bag’ symbol in the 5X box, win five times that prize.”
She and various people found the money bag symbol on the 5X box, believing they'd won big.
These people got their hopes dashed once they brought their tickets to the store to be introduced to the lotto machine, showing that they hadn't won anything.
According to officials that work in the lottery company, the ticket explains that in order to win the prize players must also find a "tic-tac-toe" symbol in another box.
READ MORE LOTTERY
“The second sentence explains how to multiply a prize won as described in the first sentence,” said Kelly Cripe, a Texas lottery spokesperson.
Despite the explanation, some affected lottery players remain upset by the situation and believe they should be remunerated.
Dawn Nettles, a lottery watchdog that runs a website that tracks the lottery movement, said that she's been contacted by various people.
She claims she's received around 150 calls from afflicted ticket buyers.
Most read in The US Sun
Nettles believes there's a strong case against the lottery company, believing that they're "engaging in deceptive business practices."
“The lottery needs to honor the face value of these tickets,” said Nettles.
“People everywhere are very upset.”
Steele said she'd been in contact with a lawyer who believes that she has a strong case against the lottery.
She said she and her husband are planning on sending a letter to the Texas Lottery Commission before pursuing legal action.