A South Carolina clerk is charged with cashing a winning lottery ticket she saw on social media

A convenience store clerk in Bamberg County, South Carolina is accused of cashing a stranger's winning lottery ticket after finding a photo of it on social media.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said the winner posted the ticket online before taking it to a retailer to be redeemed. When they arrived at a store, they were told that the ticket was already paid out.

According to a warrant provided by SLED, the clerk used a picture from the winner's social media post on July 13 to scan the ticket into a lottery terminal at the Nouria store in Bamberg where she worked at the time.

The charge

Aanyree Nicqweisha Khyasia Sapp, 20, was charged on July 23 with intent to defraud, counterfeit game tickets, after the South Carolina Education Lottery asked SLED to investigate. She was booked into the Bamberg County Detention Center, and the 2nd Circuit Solicitor's Office is prosecuting.

Sapp has not been convicted, and the charge is an accusation. If she is convicted, it carries up to five years in prison, a $50,000 fine, or both.

A photo of a ticket is enough to cash

A lottery terminal reads the barcode, and a clear photo of the front of a ticket can shows the bar code.

So here's some advice: Do not post a picture of your winning ticket. Not to a public feed, not to a story, not to a group chat that could be screenshotted. If you do share it, make sure the bar code or ticket serial number isn't shown or is covered.

Sign the back before the ticket goes anywhere as well. A signed ticket carries a name the lottery can check against whoever turns up to claim it, while an unsigned one behaves like cash. We go through the full process in how to claim a scratch-off prize.

South Carolina has seen several of these type of stories

This is the third case in the state we have covered this year, after a woman charged with cashing stolen scratch-offs and two former store employees charged in a theft scheme. All three involve the same weak point, which is the gap between holding a winning ticket and having the money.

Current South Carolina games and their rankings are on our South Carolina page.

Sources

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division: SLED charges former convenience store employee with lottery fraud

WLTX News19: SC store clerk charged with lottery fraud after scanning ticket from social media post