Half a million euro scratchcard jackpot with a surprising twist

Half a million euro scratchcard jackpot with a surprising twist

A French man, Jean-David E, had his backpack and wallet stolen from his car parked in the center of Toulouse on 3 February. With his stolen credit card, the thieves bought a scratch card and won €500,000. In principle. However, without the stolen man, they could not claim the prize.

When Jean-David E called his bank to cancel his credit card, he discovered that €52.50 had been spent on contactless payments at Tabac des Thermes, a nearby corner shop. Jean-David went to the shop to ask if the staff had seen anything suspicious or if his belongings had been left there. The cashier told him that two men who appeared to be homeless had used his card to buy cigarettes and several scratch-off lottery tickets. They had won the €500,000 jackpot with one of them, so they planned to go to the FDJ to claim their winnings.
Jean-David then informed the local police, who contacted the FDJ to warn the company. The ticket has not yet been claimed, and the French National Lottery (FDJ) has blocked the payment of the scratch card prize.

Our hero called on the two thieves to find him and promised to share the €500,000 prize with them. Jean-David said that without him, the thieves would not have won, but without them, he would not have bought the ticket. He offered to share the winnings. He stressed that if they did not contact his lawyer, the ticket would be useless. What's more, if they tried to redeem it, the police would likely arrest them. He therefore suggested that they should settle peacefully and split the money. He added that he would use his share to pay off his mortgage, while the couple could start a new life with the money.

One thing's for sure, they only have a week to find each other, because scratch card winners have 30 days from the date of purchase to claim their prize.
And the clock is ticking... So now it's true, time is money. And a lot of it.