Man wins $500,000 on lottery ticket only to be told it's a 'misprint'

A New Mexico resident scratched off two $250,000 grand prizes on a lottery ticket, but the New Mexico Lottery says the ticket was a misprint and won't be honored.

John Wines bought the scratch-off card in Roswell, New Mexico, in December. The ticket showed two winning numbers, each for $250,000 — but $250,000 is the maximum prize for the ticket. Some of the winning numbers on the ticket were also obscured, thanks to what the New Mexico lottery called a "flaw" with its printer.

When Wines went back to the Shell gas station where he bought the ticket, hoping to claim his prize, he was told the card was a misprint. Wines then emailed the New Mexico Lottery, who refused to validate the ticket, saying it was "not a winner."

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"It's like I told them, I didn't misprint it," Wines told New Mexico's KOB. "I bought the ticket in good faith thinking if I won, I was going to get my money."

The New Mexico Lottery did offer Wines a consolation prize, though: $100 worth of lottery tickets.