You’re probably not supposed to copy & paste articles, but this is really funny. From the baltimore-sun today. . .
That’s a great kicker. He tried to claim $175K even though it was worth $26M. Classic stupidity. And the GALL to return with that letter he typed. I guess he thought it made it official if it was typed.
That’s awesome. 
heh. Some guys don’t know when to quit.
Eveloution has failed. Stupidity to that degree should hurt.
Hey, ouch. What was that mystery pain I just felt?
John Gilbert Jr.
1600 Wilkens Ave
Dumbass, MD
Maryland State Lottery Guys
Big Office Bilding
South Baltimore, MD
To Who it May Concern:
This letter is to sertify that the Lottery tickit what i brought in befor is real and is a winner of 175,ooo $$ and not just two other tickits taped to gether so ware is my god dam money, your not going to get away with it & also i am really pissed off becuase of how you laughed at me & made me get the hell out befor & what teh hell do you no about it anyway just Give me my god dam Money.
Very truely Youres,
(signed)
John Gilbert Jr.
Im Not Fucken Kidding
Let me get my checkbook, Uvula.
I remember you now, uvula! You sat in the back row of my English class drooling over pictures of David Cassidy!
RE: OP
I believe a cousin of the Maryland idiot tried the same trick in California - but the people in the CA Lottery offices were not so amused. He was arrested and jailed for fraud.
As a slight hijack, there is also the famous scam of a young, immigrant couple in the parking lot of Walmart, or wherever, who approach some sucker and give a hard luck story of winning it big in the lottery, but being afraid to cash it in as they are in the country illegally. They always offer to sell the winning ticket at a huge loss. The ticket looks real (but the date is always a day after the drawing, but who notices anything that minor) and suckers fork over huge amounts of money for that big winning ticket.
What would have killed me is if the officials somehow certified the letter and told him the cash was being held by a security company in Amsterdam in the name of some dead African ruler. 
Why the hell am I never the one that gets to be a smart-ass to counter the dumb-asses wasting our oxygen?!? 
No, the real kicker is that he possibly could’ve gotten away with it if he had tried some lesser prize amount, like $50 or something.
:wally
It was the shiny tape that gave it away! He should have used matte finish tape that the lottery officials couldn’t see!
bughunter, he wouldn’t have gotten away with any amount with his method, since all tickets are checked electronically not visually and the code on his ticket was wrong.
He actually thought tapeing 2 tickets together would work?! LMAO!
He’s 19 and still in high school. Whaddya expect?
The part I like is that the lottery office originally just told the guy to go pound, which should’ve been his first clue that the fake ticket wasn’t going to fly. So what does the dumbass do? He returns with a signed letter of complaint that the office refused to accept his bogus ticket. Then, and only then, did they decide to prosecute him. Way to go, dude.
Tip for all future scammers: when you’re busted, and let off with a warning, it’s best not to persist in the scam with the same mark. Especially if that mark is a government office. :wally