News writer
A missing portion of lottery sales set off an investigation at a convenience store that operates as a South Carolina Lottery retailer. An audit then uncovered over $50,000 worth of unaccounted ticket sales. What started as a routine check into a cash shortfall quickly turned into a fraud investigation. Now, a store employee is behind bars, and her employer is questioning how it went undetected for so long.
Stolen lottery tickets
On August 8, 2025, authorities from the North Augusta Department of Public Safety were dispatched to a convenience store located at 832 Buena Vista Avenue to address reports of stolen South Carolina Lottery tickets.
The officers stated that the business owner spoke with one of them and claimed he had discovered a fraudulent transaction. According to the owner, he has to pay the lottery for the tickets sold. However, he was short on sales money and asked for an audit from the South Carolina Lottery.
The audit
The audit was conducted by the South Carolina Lottery. They determined there had been over $50,000 of uncounted sales of lottery tickets from the past year. Since July 20, 2025, there had been $7,007 in sales, officials said.
According to the owner, he believed these transactions were taking place during one of the store's workers' shifts. However, there was no surveillance camera footage available of the transactions. In addition, the lottery machines don’t have any individual login to see who was working when the sales weren't paid for.
The owner believed the transitions were taking place while Samantha Nicole Jones, 34, of North Augusta, was working. However, he was unsure whether the suspect actually did it.
An arrest was made
Authorities said the owner contacted the South Carolina Lottery and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division fraud unit regarding the incident.
On March 21, 2026, Jones was arrested and charged with three counts of lottery/intent to defraud, counterfeit game tickets; alter, make, etc., according to authorities. She was booked into the Aiken County Detention Center and remains there on a $150,000 bond. No information was given on when her next court date is scheduled.
Jackpot win in Manning
While Jones was trying to find her own jackpot in the tickets she was allegedly stealing, another South Carolina resident found their own jackpot in the Palmetto Cash 5 they recently purchased.
On March 20, one lucky ticket purchased in Manning matched all the numbers drawn to win the $160,000 jackpot. The ticket was purchased at the Stop & Go, located at 10 W. Winfield St. in Manning. The winning numbers for that drawing were 7, 21, 34, 37, and 42.
This happened to be South Carolina's 39th jackpot win of 2026. If you are that lucky winner, you have 180 days from the date of the drawing to claim your prize.
The odds of winning the Palmetto Cash 5 jackpot are 1 in 850,668. The jackpot reset to $100,000, and is now up to $130,000 for the Tuesday, March 24, drawing.
Enjoy playing the South Carolina Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
