Woman posts pic of winning ticket on WeChat, 'friend' claims prize

A woman from Xianyang in Shaanxi Province found her winning lottery ticket had been claimed by someone else after she shared her excitement with a picture of the ticket on her WeChat Moments, thepaper.cn reported.

The woman, surnamed Zou, spent 500 yuan (US$76) purchasing five sports lottery tickets on the opening day of the World Cup for the match between Russia and Saudi Arabia. She won 4,000 yuan after Russia slammed Saudi Arabia 5-0.

Zou was so excited that she immediately posted a picture of the winning ticket on her social media account. She was shocked to be told by the lottery shop that the prize had already been claimed when she went to cash the ticket in the next day.

According to the shop owner, any prize under 10,000 yuan can be claimed by providing a ticket's unique number, even without handing in the physical ticket.

Zou has reported the case to police and still isn't sure which of her 'friends' claimed her prize.