Recently, news of mainland Chinese winning millions of yuan in lottery prizes has been trending online. Netizens in China have been criticizing these stories, calling them “deceptive lottery purchases” and “tricking people into buying lottery tickets.”
On the evening of March 28th, the topic of “Man buys lottery tickets whenever he wants to smoke, wins 7.01 million yuan” trended on various platforms in mainland China.
The content of the news was about Mr. Zeng, a lottery player from Wenzhou, Zhejiang, who won 7.01 million yuan in the lottery. His wife, Mrs. Huang, mentioned that this was her husband’s unique way of quitting smoking – he would exchange his cigarette money for lottery tickets whenever he had the urge to smoke.
Mr. Zeng expressed his gratitude towards his wife, stating that she always supported his lottery purchases. He credited his wife for buying the winning ticket based on the numbers he provided, saying, “Without her, I wouldn’t have won this jackpot!”
In response to this news, Chinese netizens criticized the situation, stating, “Trying to deceive people into buying lottery tickets again,” and “Winning prizes left and right,” questioning the credibility of these stories.
On the morning of March 28th, the topic of “Mother in Shanghai wins 5 million in the lottery after her child falls ill” trended on multiple platforms in mainland China.
The news revealed that a mother in Shanghai, while raising money for her sick child, casually bought a lottery ticket and won 5 million yuan!
On March 26th, the jackpot winner, Mrs. Huang, while claiming her prize, mentioned that she hadn’t been playing the lottery for long and wasn’t an expert. With increased expenses due to her child’s illness, she decided to try her luck with the lottery, and the unexpected win came as a great relief during the challenging times.
Netizens had doubts about these stories as well, with comments like, “Trying to deceive me into buying lottery tickets again,” and “I have quit, and they are trying to lure me into buying tickets. I will report it to the anti-fraud center.” Some expressed skepticism about falling for the hype around the lottery and emphasized the importance of hard work over hoping for instant wealth.
In recent years, China has seen a rise in lottery fraud cases, where scammers take advantage of people’s desire for quick wealth, setting traps that jeopardize the financial security of many lottery players.
In these fraudulent cases, criminals impersonate lottery organizations or internal staff, claiming to have “insider information” or winning numbers, luring players to download fake apps for heavy betting. By sharing false winning information, they create an illusion of easy winning to relax players’ vigilance. They may offer to refund the initial investment to entice players to place small bets and promise reimbursement. Once players are hooked, scammers come up with various reasons to push for more deposits, ultimately leading to their deceptive goals. Although players may initially receive small returns, they eventually fall into the trap of fraud.