{"id":68550,"date":"2018-01-29T17:00:15","date_gmt":"2018-01-30T01:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=68550"},"modified":"2018-01-29T16:15:17","modified_gmt":"2018-01-30T00:15:17","slug":"florida-store-clerk-charged-with-stealing-600-winning-lottery-scratch-card","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-store-clerk-charged-with-stealing-600-winning-lottery-scratch-card\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Store Clerk Charged with Stealing $600 Winning Lottery Scratch Card"},"content":{"rendered":"

Winning lottery<\/a> scratch cards are hard enough to come by, but the odds are even longer when the store clerk is working against you. But that\u2019s what allegedly happened in one Winn-Dixie liquor store in Fort Myers, Florida recently.<\/p>\n

\"uor
Winn-Dixie liquor store clerk Crystelle Yvette Baton of Fort Myers is accused of pocketing a $600 winning Florida Lottery scratchcard from a customer who turned out to be an undercover agent for the Florida Lottery. (Image: Lee County Sheriff\u2019s office)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When a customer at the store approached Crystelle Yvette Baton with a $600 winning ticket, he received just a $5 payoff. The cashier allegedly scanned the ticket and, realizing its value, promptly pocketed it, telling the man that his \u201cprize\u201d was a measly five bucks, which she craftily pulled from her own purse.<\/p>\n

But unfortunately for Baton, the \u201ccustomer\u201d was in fact an undercover agent of the Florida Lottery<\/a> Commission\u2019s security division doing a spot check, and last week she was charged with larceny grand theft.<\/p>\n

Tip of the Iceberg?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Local news station WBHH NBC2 immediately descended on the scene of the crime to interview stunned customers.<\/p>\n

Anyone that is working in a customer service job, you think that they are doing what is in your best interest. I would be very upset if someone took that from me,\u201d said one.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, a far\u00a0worldlier visitor to the NBC2 website explained wearily how he had seen it all before, while offering some useful advice for less experienced scratch card enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is much more common than you would think,\u201d the poster asserted. \u201cI put my name on the back always, and always notice when the cashier checks the back before she determines whether it won something or not. A favorite trick, pretend to throw ticket away after telling someone they did not win anything, and then when they leave, pull it out of the trash and collect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Could it be, then, that this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the murky world of Florida convenience store lottery fraud?<\/p>\n

Top Tip: Use the Scanners<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Earlier this month, the husband of one store owner in Tallahassee was hauled before a judge to plead guilty to printing thousands of forged winning tickets which he cashed in for over $250,000. Hutendra\u00a0Bahadur Shahi, 38, was charged with fraud, grand theft, and tampering with evidence.<\/p>\n

So now you know why you never win any money on those convenience store scratch cards. But, seriously, if you\u2019re really concerned you\u2019re being bilked out of a small fortune by unscrupulous customer service operatives, remember you can check whether you have a winning ticket, and exactly how much it\u2019s worth, by passing it through the in-store electronic checkers, sparing the clerks the temptation in the first place.<\/p>\n

Baton, who has been fired, posted a $5,000 bond and has a trial set for February 26.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Winning lottery scratch cards are hard enough to come by, but the odds are even longer when the store clerk is working against you. But that\u2019s what allegedly happened in one Winn-Dixie liquor store in Fort Myers, Florida recently. When a customer at the store approached Crystelle Yvette Baton with a $600 winning ticket, he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":68558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,60,13699],"tags":[13700,13701,13702],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFlorida Store Clerk Charged with Stealing $600 Winning Lottery Scratch Card<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Crystelle Yvette Baton of Fort Myers, a Winn-Dixie liquor store clerk, is accused of stealing a $600 winning Florida Lottery scratchcard from a customer.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Florida Store Clerk Charged with Stealing $600 Winning Lottery Scratch Card\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Crystelle Yvette Baton of Fort Myers, a Winn-Dixie liquor store clerk, is accused of stealing a $600 winning Florida Lottery scratchcard from a customer.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-store-clerk-charged-with-stealing-600-winning-lottery-scratch-card\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-01-30T01:00:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-01-30T00:15:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/baton.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"931\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"524\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-store-clerk-charged-with-stealing-600-winning-lottery-scratch-card\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-store-clerk-charged-with-stealing-600-winning-lottery-scratch-card\/\",\"name\":\"Florida Store Clerk Charged with Stealing $600 Winning Lottery Scratch Card\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-store-clerk-charged-with-stealing-600-winning-lottery-scratch-card\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-store-clerk-charged-with-stealing-600-winning-lottery-scratch-card\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/baton.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-30T01:00:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-01-30T00:15:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Crystelle Yvette Baton of Fort Myers, a Winn-Dixie liquor store clerk, is accused of stealing a $600 winning Florida Lottery scratchcard from a customer.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-store-clerk-charged-with-stealing-600-winning-lottery-scratch-card\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-store-clerk-charged-with-stealing-600-winning-lottery-scratch-card\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-store-clerk-charged-with-stealing-600-winning-lottery-scratch-card\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/baton.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/baton.jpg\",\"width\":931,\"height\":524,\"caption\":\"Winn-Dixie liquor store clerk Crystelle Yvette Baton of Fort Myers is accused of pocketing a $600 winning Florida Lottery scratchcard from a customer who turned out to be an undercover agent for the Florida Lottery. 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