Stolen Credit Card + Winning Lotto Ticket = Stupid Criminal

from the yes-i-am-santos-l-halperin dept

An Oregon woman went to the state’s lottery HQ earlier this month to claim the first installment of a $1 million prize she’d won with a ticket. She took the $33,500 and ran — the only problem being she’d bought the winning ticket with a stolen credit card. Apparently the woman used her mother-in-law’s card — her mother-in-law that died over a year ago. So a lesson for stupid criminals everywhere: stick to cash. And to whoever stole all those numbers from CardSystems: don’t buy lotto tickets.


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Comments on “Stolen Credit Card + Winning Lotto Ticket = Stupid Criminal”

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38 Comments
Anonymous Coward says:

Re: No Subject Given

It probably won’t work this way and I really don’t care about meth-heads anyway, but I think she should have to use the money to completely clear the debt of her aunt’s credit cards and herself, but she should be able keep the remainder of the money. She should also be punished for the fraud she was busted for and the meth that was found. Jail time is necessary, but she should still get the money for the lottery in my opinion.

Luck is luck. What if i found a winning lotto ticket in the trash because the purchaser was an idiot and it ended up being purchased illegally? Do I not have the right to cash it in then? I really don’t know the rules of lotto since playing at all is so foolish on a mathematical level. But I don’t think how a lotto ticket is obtained should matter. And I don’t think you should become inelligible just because you are a criminal or have committed a crime in the past.

My logic is probably a little flawed, but eh, whatever…

Bob says:

Re: Re: No Subject Given

“…but she should still get the money for the lottery in my opinion.”

What if I stole $1 from your wallet and purchased a lottery ticket. Then I got lucky and won 50 million dollars from that $1 of yours.

By your logic, I am entitled to the winnings because it was ME who lady luck smiled upon, not you. The fact I used your dollar is irrelevant, you are entitled to nothing. By the way, once I collect my first installment of the 50 mil, remind me I owe you $1.

On a personal note I do play the lotto, but spend the minimum amount necessary for an entry. There is no point to buying multipliers or any of that nonsense. Sure its a far fetched game, but without an entry you’re 100% guaranteed to lose.

Buckie says:

Re: Re: Re:2 No Subject Given

Agreed. You should only be charged with the crime committed. Whatever goes on the record, punishment, and the payback of the dollar? What he did with dollar was not illegal even though ill gotten. I am sure some of the money we have now has been stolen in one form or another. And that make you responsible for having stolen money if it had never been given back to it original owner at one point. Making you just as guilty as the thief.

Possession is 9/10ths of law and ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it.

RBasil says:

Re: Re: Re: No Subject Given

“Sure its a far fetched game, but without an entry you’re 100% guaranteed to lose.”

Bob, You have it backwards. Without an entry you are 100% guaranteed NOT to lose. In fact I would consider it winning because you didn’t waste your money playing in the first place.

You lottery players always amuse me with your excuses for blowing your money time and time again.

Kat says:

Re: Re: No Subject Given

I don’t think they should get the money, if they used stolen money to purchase the ticket.. in which ever form the money comes.. be it coins, or bills.. or credit card… a crime is a crime, and that’s all there is to it… that’s like saying if someone robbed a diamond store of all their precious jewels, that just because the diamonds belonged to the jewelers before the criminal stole it.. doesn’t mean they still belong to the jeweler after… this way of looking at it.. means they technically belong to the theif… and they should get to keep the loot, even though they obtained it illegally. …

No person should get to keep the loot, from something, if they gained it in an illegal manner.

Buckie says:

Re: Re: Re: No Subject Given

“means they technically belong to the theif… and they should get to keep the loot, even though they obtained it illegally. …”

I agree with that. But this is a little different.

Say the diamonds are stolen. Thief uses the diamonds to cut glass sculptures, that sale like mad, and he makes a fortune (Like playing the lotto with stolen dollar)

Then his is found guilty of stealing the diamonds. Does that mean he has to give back money made for his work he used them for? After he does his jail time, gave back diamonds and whatever else might happen to him in the legal process?

Anonymous Coward says:

Re: Re: Re: No Subject Given

How many times have you won playing the lotto buddy? And if you were to add all those dollars up, how much have you spent?

The reason you win if you do win is luck, period.

Since it was her relative, I don’t see a problem with her keeping the money if she pays it back to the credit card company along with all the other charges on the card. What if her aunt had given her permission to use her card before she died?

And why the hell is the credit card working when the owner of it is deceased anyway??? I mean come on, no wonder there is so much fraud. That’s just ridiculous.

Are there any laws that say it isn’t OK to use someone else’s credit card when you have their permission?

CoolNerdBoy says:

Re: Re: Re:2 No Subject Given

I completely agree with the fact that she should be allowed to keep the money she won. Not giving her the money after her hopes are up so much is extremely cruel. She should be punished for what she did, but she shouldn’t have to live regretting it for the rest of her life; the crime here is pretty benign, especially if it’s a “stolen” credit card that belonged to a now deceased person.

Anonymous Coward says:

Re: Re: Re: No Subject Given

99% of the time, yes you are right, a criminal should not be allowed to profit from a crime. But this is a strange situation. And it was only a dollar.

The “CRIME” she committed she profited one dollar. And you are right she should not be able to keep that dollar. She should have to pay back the money used illegally and be punished for doing it (with fines or jail time if necessary). The money she made was not made because of a crime by any means. It was made because she was lucky enough to obtain that lottery ticket.

The simple fact remains that if she had stolen a dollar bill off her dead aunt’s dresser a year ago and just now used it to buy the lottery ticket, noone would have disputed a thing.

Anonymous Coward says:

Re: Stolen Credit Card

That sucks but may help prove her “innocence” in the matter. For all we know, she borrowed the credit card with permission from her aunt before she died (yes a year earlier i know, but i’ve left shit i dont use in my wallet for much longer) or received it when she died and just had it on her still. Then she may have accidentally used the wrong card to purchase her items at the store.

I mean if you were actually TRYING to use a credit card illegally, you’d probably at least sign with the name that’s on the card. And you wouldn’t only be buying little convenience store items. But then again, she was on meth most likely and therefore probably borderline retarded. It could go either way.

Was there any evidence of her abusing the card at any other times since her aunt’s death?

OR… maybe she just had shitty credit and was using it and paying off the card in her aunt’s name because she couldn’t get her own card in her name.

All kinds of possibilities.

ironman2003 says:

Re: No Subject Given

On the contrary, you can buy lottery tickets with just about anything. We had our personal checks stolen a few months ago and the iddiot took them to a supermarket and bought 40$ in tickets with a forged check. We have her on video. This is in the same city (Central Point, Oregon) where the credit card was used in this area.

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