Lottery organisers call in cops over punter’s ‘doctored’ $350,000 jackpot scratchcard

Dad-of-four Eric Walker claims he won $350,000 on a $5 scratchie — but lottery officials say the card was ‘doctored’.

UK lottery chiefs have called in fraud cops after a punter tried to claim a £200,000 ($AU350,000) jackpot with a “doctored” scratchcard.

Dad-of-four Eric Walker, 56, claims he won the vast sum on a £3 ($AU5) Pharaoh’s Fortune card three weeks ago. Mr Walker, from Sheffield, buys six scratchcards a day and claimed the big money win after matching three symbols.

But British lottery organisers Camelot refused to pay up saying that a letter F had been altered to look like an E — and reported him to the cops. They added that the winning scratchcard hasn’t been sold yet.

“I can confirm that the scratchcard has not been recalled and we will be reporting this matter to the police,” a spokesman said.

Unemployed Mr Walker said it was the result of a misprint and insisted, “I’m no cheat”.

“I’ve matched the three symbols like the card says and I’ve won,” he said. “They are saying it’s not a winner and we’ve cheated. I’m not prepared to let this go. We’re being swindled out of £200,000 by Camelot.”

The game offers five top prizes of £200,000 ($AU350,000) by giving sixteen co-ordinates which are used to scratch off squares on a grid in the hope of matching three pharaoh symbols.

The money would be life-changing for him and his partner Amanda. Picture: SWNS/Mega

Camelot said the card appeared to have been doctored. Picture: SWNS/Mega

Lottery officials said police had been called. Picture: SWNS/Mega

Mr Walker, who has children aged between 14 months and nine-years-old, said the money would be “life-changing” for him and his partner, Amanda Emmadi, 37.

“In my eyes, I’ve won £200,000 and I’m being cheated out of the money,” he said. “They’re trying to tell me that an F has been changed to an E but I bought the ticket and scratched it myself.”

He added, “I haven’t doctored it, I’m not trying to cheat. If it’s a misprint then that’s their fault and they should still pay out, it’s nothing to do with me. I’m going to keep the pressure on Camelot to sort this out, I’m not willing to let it go.

“They want to inspect the ticket but I’m not letting it out of my sight. It’s a winner and I’m hanging on to it.”

Mr Walker insists he uncovered three pharaoh symbols on squares D1, E5 and A5 after purchasing the “winning” ticket from a corner shop near his house three weeks ago.

Camelot has refuted the claim that the altered card is a result of a misprint after launching an investigation into the issue. “Based on the photo we were sent we were able to reconstruct the scratchcard in our system,” a spokesperson said.

“We can confirm that an F has been altered to appear as an E and is therefore not a winning scratchcard. The scratchcard has not been recalled and we will be reporting this matter to the police.”

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission