Check the fine print. The lottery reserves the right to deny prizes based on a review of the ticket purchase, and since 2014 it's done that 270 times for winners of scratch-off games of a $1,000 or more.
Here are the top five reasons a winning ticket holder could be denied scratch-off prize money:
1. Trying to cash a ticket for someone else.
2. Claiming multiple winning games in a short period of time.
3. Failing to prove where or when you bought your winning ticket.
4. Claiming to have purchased a winning ticket before it was delivered to the store.
5. Failing to disclose a relationship with a store owner where tickets are sold.
Read how the lottery makes decisions to withhold prizes, and meet some Georgia winners who have been denied big payouts on myAJC.com.
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