Mississippi men rumbled claiming $100,000 lottery prize with fake ticket

A warning: not all get-rich-quick schemes are genuinely effective strategies for wealth creation.

An incident in Mississippi this week serves as a reminder that such glistering schemes can have serious flaws.

It also shows how far some people are willing to go to woo Lady Luck when the deck is stacked against them.

Odis Latham, 47, and Russell Sparks, 48, both of Columbus, rocked up on Monday at the headquarters of the Mississippi lottery in Flowood hoping to lay claim to a $100,000 prize.

They were lucky enough to be in possession of a scratch-off ticket with the correct numbers, but there was one small problem.

The ticket in question was actually a losing one. Its supposed winning numbers had been added … with glue.

Lottery officials immediately spotted that the ticket had been doctored with an adhesive, the Mississippi Clarion Ledger reports.

The Lottery Corp. also confirmed that it uses barcodes, among other measures, to ensure that tickets are legitimate.

Officers from the Flowood Police Department were quickly on the scene, after receiving a call at around 9.20am, and took both men into custody.

Latham and Sparks were charged with conspiracy to commit a felony and uttering a counterfeit instrument over $1,000. Latham faces a further charge for false ID.

They are currently being held without bond at the Rankin County Jail, with an initial court appearance scheduled for today.