Thief at Gala Bingo Hall
Monday, 8 October 2012
It is only natural in this day and age to be extremely cautious when it comes to depositing and withdrawing at your fave online bingo site. In 2011 alone over 13 million people worldwide became the victims of online fraud and theft, but I bet that you never thought you would have to worry about thieves stealing your winnings from OFFLINE gaming venues! That is exactly what Victoria Smith thought as she celebrated a win in her local Gala Bingo Hall until her winnings were snatched form right under her nose!
Victoria Smith hit the fruit machines at the bingo hall in Fenton, Watford, just a few days ago and managed to snap up an impressive £301 prize. However before Victoria could even think about what she was going to buy with her tasty little winnings, a thief named Dean Ward snatched her ticket from her and then took it to Gala Bingo staff to swap it for the cash. By the time that poor Victoria tried to grab her winnings just before she left the venue, she was informant that the ticket had just 10p worth of winnings on it. Clair Moss was the prosecutor when the thief, 27 year old Ward, stood trial in North Staffordshire Magistrates' Court. She stated;
“Victoria Smith had won £301 and she pressed the 'collect' button. But when she tried to use the voucher in another machine it didn't work. She took it to staff and it only had 10p left on it. Staff checked CCTV footage and saw two males had used the machine straight after. They had approached the machine and one of them was seen to pull the voucher straight out. Ward admitted playing at Gala Bingo. He said he came across the ticket and thought his luck was in. He was down on his luck at the time.”
At present, Ward has been ordered to pay Victoria back, so not only does he owe her the £301 and he was also ordered to pay his own court fees of £30. He claims that he cannot pay back the money, however, as he is homeless and has no income.
The age of argument that pits online and offline bingo head to head is currently a moot point after this allegation came to light. Often one of the cons of playing online bingo is the fact that you could find yourself a victim of identity fraud or theft, but this just goes to show that you can’t even be safe in offline bingo halls if you don’t keep your eyes peeled! At least when playing online bingo you can use Paypal or Ukash to protect you!
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