The Crime Suppression Division Police (CSD) successfully arrested a fake lottery ticket gang forging government winning numbers then selling the tickets to lottery sellers on the market.
Normally if you hold a winning ticket in Thailand, instead of traveling to hand in the ticket yourself, lottery ticket sellers will buy it from you for a 2 – 3% cut of the winnings.
Siriwat Binruadrew 61 years old from Surin Province is one of the suspects who was arrested at a train station in the city of Nakhon Ratchasima Province. Many victims went to cash in the tickets at the Government Lottery Office.
This made them extremely confused as they had already paid at least 97% of the winnings in cash to members of the fake lottery ticket gang.
The police investigated the reports and discovered the pattern including the suspected area. A picture had been sent to the police of Siriwat by a ticket seller who happened to have a picture of the suspect. Siriwat works with other members using numbers cut-outs from real lottery tickets then placing them on another ticket. He also edited the alphabets and the QR code on the tickets to make it look real, even if it was scanned. The members then take the forged tickets to lottery sellers and cashed it in, instead of taking the risks themselves by coming to the Government Lottery Office.
The members will do this twice a month, it is estimated that there are about 10 members all throughout the country. They will find victims who are older sellers, those who don’t know how to tell a fake ticket, or lottery shops that don’t have a barcode scanner. To make sure, a few days before the lottery is announced the members will find lottery sellers and ask them about how they would know if a ticket is fake or real before handing over cash to lottery winners.
