ONE man's lucky day has turned upside down after he tried to claim his lottery winnings but instead received a form demanding money.
John Moore from Jacksonville, Florida won $1,000 on a Whole Lotta 500s scratch-off ticket.
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The excited father took his 12-year-old son to the lottery office to collect the shock win.
However, he went from overjoyed to dismayed after he was handed a "special circumstances" lottery form instead of a check.
The form claimed that Moore owed the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) $1,200.
He told local independent news outlet WJXT: "I’m like, ‘What in the world?’ Like, it’s close to Christmas. I could use $1,000.”
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“The day before they took my ticket, they [the DEO] were asking me to claim benefits."
Moore had claimed benefits for around three months in 2020, when his account became active but he had not used it since.
Upon checking his account with the DEO, he said: "It doesn’t say I owe them a dollar.
“It doesn’t say anything about owing them anything.”
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At the beginning of the year, a public records request by Orlando-based CBS affiliate WKMG-TV to the state lottery office showed that 5,060 winners from January 2022 to January 2023, owed money.
The Florida State Lottery said that these winners "showed potential outstanding state owed debt balance."
The request came after a number of winners in Florida complained of having their prize talked away by the DEO due to unemployment overpayments they were unaware of.
DEO deputy director of communications, Morgan Jones, told WJXT “that DEO’s Reemployment Assistance overpayment procedures are in place to mitigate fraud.
"An overpayment is established when DEO does not receive sufficient information to determine eligibility for a claim.”
Moore updated WJXT with his case after they called the DEO to help clear up the issue.
WJXT reported that after their phone call, "the mystery for both cases was resolved quickly."
Moore said: “I almost gave up, I’m not going to lie. How many people aren’t fighting that don’t know about you guys!”
A closer examination of Moore's records found an additional $275 in unemployment assistance.
“They direct deposited $275 that they owed me because they forgot to send it,” Moore said.
Jones noted that the DEO’s fraud prevention measures have stopped more than $23.1 billion in fraud.
She added: “To be clear, we realize that just because an overpayment is flagged in an account, it does not mean an overpayment has occurred."
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The U.S. Sun has contacted the DEO in Tallahassee for comment.
In a similar case, Dolly Kountz and Dave Kreshpane from Palm Beach believed they had won $2,900 from a Pick 4 ticket but instead took home $11,000 worth of debt.
