Facebook 'friend' steals $900 winnings

The Facebook “friend” of a Perth woman used a picture of her holding a winning Melbourne Cup ticket to claim the $900 prize.

The woman named Chantelle was thrilled to win the cash after picking Cup winner Prince of Penzance at the odds of 101-1.

After the horse won the race Chantelle took a celebratory selfie before posting it on faceboom.

What she didn’t realized however was the barcode for the ticket could be used to claim the money.

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“I’ve never bet before so me and my two friends went along as you do and put some money on a few different races,” she told radio station Triple M.

“When Prince of Penzance’s name came up we were pretty stoked.

“Naturally I’d taken a bit of a selfie to show my friends.”

Chantelle and two of her mates went to collect their prize money just 15 minutes later but were told someone beat them to it using the photo featuring the winning ticket.

"Someone had a pretty good game at filtering my picture and cutting out my barcode and putting it into an automated machine," she said.

The culprit is likely one of her Facebook friends. However, police were able to track the claim and are now investigating.

"To the low life who is obviously my friend on Facebook and used my photo to claim our winnings. You’re a massive d — k. You ruined my day.

"All of our profiles are private so it has to be someone who is well, we’d like to think of as our acquaintance.

"Might need a bit of a Facebook cull now."