Spanish Widow Denied €35,000 ONCE Lottery Prize After Forged Self-Exclusion by Late Husband
TL;DR — A 79-year-old Spanish widow won €35,000 in the ONCE Lottery in August 2025 but cannot collect because her late husband forged her self-exclusion 13 years ago. The family is in court to annul the registration, citing forged signatures, factual errors, and no history of gambling problems. The operator states law bars payment until the listing is removed.
SCCG Take — The case shows how weak verification in self-exclusion filings can produce unjust barriers for legitimate winners and force court intervention.
A 79-year-old Spanish widow named Carmen has been blocked from collecting a €35,000 (US$40,000) lottery prize after her late husband forged her signature to place her on a gambling self-exclusion list 13 years ago. Carmen, from Los Alcázares in the Murcia region, won Spain’s ONCE Lottery prize in August 2025 and planned to use it for a trip to Portugal. Her bank refused payment after finding her name on Spain’s General Registry of Prohibited Access to Gambling.
Details of the Forged Registration
Carmen’s family alleges her husband fraudulently registered her by forging her identity and signature. Her daughter, identified only by the pseudonym María, told El País that her father was a terrible husband with a sexist mindset who opposed Carmen going to the bingo hall with friends because it left him alone at home. The couple had a huge argument about it.
María believes her father submitted a certified letter to Spain’s Directorate General for Gambling Regulation falsely claiming Carmen wanted to exclude herself due to serious financial losses. The document, obtained by El País, authorized the husband to file on her behalf citing temporary incapacity. The family disputes every aspect, noting Carmen never had gambling problems, the signature bears little resemblance to hers, and the form contained basic errors including her birthplace and surname spelling.
Court Action and Lottery Operator Stance
The family is pursuing the matter through the courts to overturn the refusal and remove Carmen’s name from the self-exclusion register on grounds the registration was fraudulent. The lottery operator said it has no discretion to pay prizes to people listed on the register. A spokesperson told El País the organization would “be delighted” to pay Carmen’s €35,000 if her registration were annulled by the courts but added that current law prohibits payment while the exclusion remains in force.
Carmen, who has Parkinson’s disease, has struggled to understand why she cannot collect the prize she legitimately won and has become convinced that those around her are deceiving her. María told El País that what she wants most is for her mother to have peace of mind and for her to spend all the prize money on travel. This account draws from reporting by Casino.org News.
Reporting: Casino.org News
Generated by SCCG’s automated editorial system from published source reporting. SCCG Management holds editorial responsibility.
Weak identity controls in self-exclusion systems can lock out legitimate winners and require court intervention to undo old fraud.
We've seen self-exclusion rigor tighten globally, but this exposes the other side: legacy filings with zero authentication now create legal quagmires. Operators inherit decade-old registries with forged data, no biometric checks, no recourse — and families end up in court. It's a compliance landmine and a trust crisis rolled into one.
- 79-year-old Spanish widow denied €35K ONCE prize due to husband's forged self-exclusion filing 13 years ago
- Family alleges falsified signature, factual errors, no gambling history — now pursuing court annulment
- Operator legally barred from paying until exclusion removed, despite acknowledging likely fraud
SCCG angle: SCCG works with platforms and regulators across Europe on responsible gaming compliance and identity verification frameworks. When legacy processes collide with modern integrity expectations, we help clients audit exclusion workflows, plug authentication gaps, and design appeals paths that protect both players and operators from exactly this kind of nightmare.