Unemployed father-of-four is refused £200,000 prize by National Lottery over ‘faked’ scratchcard – but insists he’s ‘NO CHEATER’ and he did not alter it
- Unemployed Eric Walker, 56, claims he had scratched three matching symbols
- It comes after he bought National Lottery’s £3-a-time Pharoah’s Fortune card
- 16 co-ordinates are given to scratch off squares in hope of matching symbols
- But lottery organisers Camelot say one of card’s co-ordinates was ‘altered’
Eric Walker, pictured with his partner Amanda Emmadi, claimed the big money lottery win
A father-of-four refused a £200,000 lottery jackpot after being accused of having a faked ‘winning’ scratchcard today insisted: ‘I’m no cheat.’
Unemployed Eric Walker, 56, of Sheffield, claimed the big money win after saying he had scratched three matching symbols on the National Lottery’s £3-a-time Pharoah’s Fortune card.
Sixteen co-ordinates are given on the cards which are used to scratch off squares on a grid in the hope of matching three pharaoh symbols.
But lottery organisers Camelot have refused to pay up saying that one of the co-ordinates on the card was ‘altered’.
The winning co-ordinate F5 appears to have been changed to an E5 – something Mr Walker denies and says must be result of a misprint.
However today an image of his ‘winning’ card was published in a local newspaper and then appeared altered again later in the day. Mr Walker insists he won the jackpot ‘fair and square’.
The winning co-ordinate F5 appears to have been changed to an E5 – something Mr Walker denies and says must be result of a misprint
A Camelot spokesman today confirmed that an investigation had been launched and it was found that a co-ordinate been altered.
However Mr Walker is refusing to back down and says that the money would be ‘life changing’ for him and his partner Amanda Emmadi, 37.
-
Pay rise for the unemployed: Dole ‘to increase…
British motorists racked up £4.2million in fines for parking…
Share this article
Mr Walker, who buys six scratchcards a day, has children aged between 14 months and nine years old.
He said: ‘In my eyes I’ve won £200,000 and I’m being cheated out of the money.
‘They’re trying to tell me that an F has been changed to an E but I bought the ticket and scratched it myself. I haven’t doctored it, I’m not trying to cheat.
Mr Walker bought the scratchcard from a Premier corner shop near his house in Sheffield
‘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 pressure on Camelot to sort this out, I’m not willing to let it go.’
An email response from Camelot to Mr Walker
Mr Walker bought the scratchcard from a Premier corner shop near his house three weeks ago and scratched it straight away.
The game requires players to reveal a series of map co-ordinates and corresponding squares on a game board.
Mr Walker’s card shows that he uncovered three pharaoh symbols on squares D1, E5 and A5, however, the E5 code appears to have been doctored.
The F5 square, which the code was originally believed to have been, is also scratched off.
A Camelot spokesperson said: ‘Based on the photo we were sent we were able to re-construct the scratchcard in our system.
‘We can confirm that an F has been altered to appear as an E and is therefore not a winning Scratchcard.’
Source: Read Full Article