What Would You do if You WON?
By Broad_Bodybuilder_94+66 Title: My $1,000 scratcher win disappeared because I let my brother redeem it. Am I completely screwed?
I bought a California scratcher today and somehow hit for $1,000. I was absolutely pumped.
Still riding the adrenaline, I called my brother to tell him. He plays scratchers all the time, so I knew he'd appreciate the news. We started talking about how to redeem it, and since prizes over $599 have to go through the lottery office, he offered to take it in because he was off work. I couldn't make it before they closed since I don't get off until 6 p.m. I even offered him $100 for doing me the favor.
About two hours later, I got a text: "We're fucked. Call me."
Apparently, my brother owes back taxes. According to him, when he tried to redeem the ticket, the California Lottery immediately seized the entire prize to satisfy his tax debt.
Now everything I've read online makes it sound like I'm just out the $1,000 with no way to get it back. My brother seemed upset, but honestly not nearly as upset as I was. Part of me is also wondering if he could be lying and just kept the money, although I have no way to prove that.
Either way, I know I made a ridiculously dumb decision. I should never have let someone else try to redeem a winning ticket that belonged to me.
The funniest part? I asked ChatGPT about my situation, and it gave me a long explanation about people trying to avoid debt collectors by having a friend or family member claim their lottery winnings. I somehow managed to do the exact opposite. Even the AI wasn't prepared for someone making such a mistake.
Has anyone dealt with something like this before? Is there any chance of recovering the money, or do I just chalk this up as a very expensive lesson?
Recent responses
+102 @Goharddinthepaint Your bro owes you $1,000, and should pay, unless he’s a complete dead beat, to which yeah you screwed yourself by the company you keep
+62 @Yearn10-56 Anyone with back owed taxes knows. He knew. He knew this would be an easy way to get his debt paid off. Him saying "were fucked" makes no sense when it still benefited him in some way. I'm so sorry your own family just screwed you for money. I hope he pays you back at the very least.
+41 @Spiritual_Survey9545 Dont ever trust anyone to cash something for you.
+25 @spenchanna Why wouldn’t you just wait til the next day or whenever you could take it to the lottery office? Were you not at all excited to go and do it yourself too??
+24 @SBRH33 Man, that's straight up theft/ fraud. Yer brother knew the ticket would get confiscated by the state. He knew that he was in Tax arrears. It's simple. Yer bro owes you $1000 dollars. Plus interest if he doesn't pay up today. Now, a few options. Prepare to never be paid back. Have him gift you something worth about $1000 dollars to replace the "stolen money" or take him to small claims court.
+17 @lastgateway He also owes taxes on that money now