Down on her luck: Woman accumulates 250,000 yuan debt in lottery addiction

A woman in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, accumulated a total debt of about 250,000 yuan ($34,100) in just three months after becoming addicted to scratch cards, according to a report by Jiupai News, a news portal based in Hubei province, on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old woman, who prefers to call herself Xiao Fu, started scratching scratch cards with her friends in August. For fun, she would scratch off two or three tickets now and then. However, she became obsessed after learning from a lottery player that the more she scratched, the higher her chances of winning the big prize.

Xiao Fu began buying tickets in packs, usually costing 600 yuan or so for a pack, hoping to be the lucky one. However, she often only got 200 or 300 yuan back after scratching the whole pack.

In September, Xiao Fu discovered herself owing a credit card debt of 60,000 yuan. She tried to borrow money from friends to fill the gap, but her debts continued to grow.

In the hope of winning the jackpot, Xiao Fu continued to indulge in scratch-off lottery tickets, borrowing from various loan platforms and credit cards. She eventually accumulated a debt of as high as 250,000 yuan, despite never winning a prize higher than 1,000 yuan.

Xiao Fu said she was caught up in the gambling mindset and couldn't control herself, imagining winning the big prize in the next shot.

Faced with immense pressure from her debt burden, Xiao Fu began to seek solutions. She deleted almost all the information related to scratch-off lottery from her phone and started working to repay the money. She also shared her experience on social media, warning other young people not to repeat her mistakes.

Xiao Fu's story has attracted widespread attention on Weibo, a Twitter-like platform. Many netizens have expressed their support and encouragement, while also reminding everyone to treat scratch-off lottery tickets as entertainment in a rational manner.