A friend of the woman cheated out of $825 after posting a Facebook selfie of her winning Melbourne Cup ticket – along with its bar code - has revealed the winning ticket was actually worth a cumulative $2475.
The Perth woman named Chantelle, who didn't want her last named published, was over the moon when 100/1 rank outsider Prince of Penzance won Tuesday's cup with Michelle Payne on board.
She celebrated her win with a Facebook selfie holding up the winning ticket.
But her joy soon turned sour when she realised someone else dined out on her winnings after they used the barcode on the clearly displayed receipt to withdraw the cash from an automated machine.
Now it has come to light that one of her mates, Sam Smith, actually placed the bet for himself, Chantelle and another friend, at a total of $30 each way.
Mr Smith told Radio 6PR on Thursday morning he couldn't believe it when his horse came in and he had won $825.
"I saw this news story in the morning so I decided to have $10 each way," he said.
"Chantelle posted a selfie of it on Facebook and I posted just a photo of the ticket on Facebook itself.
"I didn't have it up for long before because one of my friends messaged me and said you need to take that down straight away someone will steal your money.
"I didn't think it was a thing but I took it down anyway. By the time I went to claim the ticket it was gone.
"We were already celebrating and had bought four bottles of champagne."
The 27-year-old is gutted one of his friends could have cashed in his winnings because his Facebook settings were set to private.
"It's really disappointing to think that one of our friends could have have [cheated] us out of our money," he said.
"Maybe they did it for a joke or the situation has become so desperate they now can't admit it."
The travel agent is meeting with TAB this morning and has been told the betting agent has CCTV footage of a person cashing in the winnings at an outlet in Maddington.
Mr Smith is hoping to get his $825 back.
"It's a matter of principle now," he said.
"It's disappointing to think one of our friends could have [cheated] us out of almost $900."
Meanwhile, a mystery Perth woman won $20,000 after placing a one-dollar mystery bet on the Melbourne Cup.
Radio 6PR sports reporter Karl Langdon tweeted out the winning ticket on Tuesday afternoon.
It's understood the prize was collected before the image was circulated.
Here it is!! pic.twitter.com/yW5anWkkzk— Karl Langdon (@Karl6pr)
November 3, 2015
