Probe after grandmother wins lottery ‘too much’

A woman says she has won the lotto so many times that an investigation has been launched.

A UK lottery punter was made to feel “like some sort of criminal” because she has won so often.

Amelia Barnham, 69, spends $114 (£60) a week on lotto tickets and has won small prizes several times totalling $45,500 (£23,600).

But after her latest win, $1500 (£800) on a $2 (£1) HotPicks ticket, new operator Allwyn put her under investigation, The Sun reports.

They sent an ex-detective to her house and demanded she prove her identity — and said she was being probed because she had won so often in the past.

Finance worker Amelia, a gran and mum of three, still has not received her winnings after landing three of the five numbers in the draw on February 3.

Amelia Barnham, 69, spends about $114 a week on lotto tickets and has won small prizes several times totalling about $45,500 - but was investigated after her latest $1500 win. Picture: The Sun / News Licensing / MEGA

She said: “This has stressed me out so much and I am fuming.

“I have been treated like some sort of criminal — and having someone come to my house was intimidating.

“The numbers came from the national draw — so did they think I was printing the tickets or something?

“I have never had this trouble before and I am worried it will put people off buying tickets.

“The investigator was an ex-detective who has worked this area for 30 years.

“He showed me his badge and came in and took pictures of my passport and demanded to see bank statements.

“It’s ridiculous.

“He was embarrassed and kept saying sorry.

“He also said, ‘I am only the messenger.’

“How can they treat people like this?”

Amelia, who lives in West London, with husband Tony, sent the company pictures of the ticket and was given a claim number. She was then told an investigator would visit. Picture: The Sun / News Licensing / MEGA

Amelia’s problems began two days after the draw when she went to the Post Office to try to collect her winnings.

Staff there told her to go back to the Tesco where she bought the ticket.

She managed to validate her ticket, but was told she needed to contact Allwyn, which replaced Camelot as Lotto operator on February 1.

Amelia, who lives in Hammersmith, West London, with husband Tony, 69, sent the company pictures of the front and back of the ticket and was given a claim number.

She was then told an investigator would visit her house on February 28.

He showed his ID, then took pictures of her ticket, bank card, bank statements, passport and also took a snap of Amelia.

Finance worker Amelia, a gran and mum of three, still has not received her winnings after landing three of the five numbers.

She said: “I did ask why I was being investigated.

“It made me feel very uneasy and upset.

“He said it was because of the amount of wins that I had won and hopefully I should hear back within a week — but I’m still waiting.

“If this was to happen to someone really old, they’re not going to like someone coming round their house.

“It might be quite frightening.

“It’s been more than a month now since I won.

“I think it’s disgusting and disgraceful the way I’ve been treated and the way I’m sure many others have been treated.

“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.

“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.”

An Allwyn spokesman said: “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.

“Security checks form a key part of the process of validating a winning ticket to ensure we maintain the integrity of The National Lottery.

“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.”

The Sun was told this week that prizes between £500 and £50,000 can no longer be collected from Post Offices and that winners now have to verify their numbers.

This story was published by The Sun and was reproduced with permission