Plenty of people have expressed concern in recent years about how crudely materialistic China is becoming. There was the woman who said on television that she would rather cry in the back of a BMW than go for a romantic bike ride. Beijing-based singer Chuanzi sings satirical songs about how he cannot afford to do essential things such as own property or get married. And scandals about people doing dastardly things to make themselves rich are never far away.

But one Shenzhen man has proven to be somewhat less cunning than the best con-artists.

The hairdresser was arrested for forging a lottery ticket after the winning numbers were announced, according to Shenzhen Evening Post. After printing the ticket at a photographer’s shop for 5 yuan, the man, surnamed Huang, who lives in Longgang District took it to city’s lottery center to claim the 5.7 million yuan prize money.

On June 18, Huang, 20, entered the lottery center on Hongling Road in Luohu District. After receiving the ticket with the numbers 2012069, the worker thought it odd and asked Huang whether it was real. Huang explained that he had left it in his pocket when he was washing his clothes. An examination showed the ticket to be made with non-standard paper, and lacked all of the hallmarks of a legitimate lottery ticket.

The worker at the lottery center called the police. After being taken down to Guiyuan Police Station in Luohu, Huang first claimed that he had bought the ticket not knowing it was a fake, then explained that he found it. Eventually, he confessed to having it made for himself.

Huang, who comes from Meizhou in Guangdong Province, could face 3-10 years in jail, according to a lawyer. Ren, the photographer, could also face criminal charges. Ren claims he had initially been reluctant to help Huang.

When Huang went to the lottery center, he was accompanied by his friend who works in a factory. Huang, who is poorly educated and does not have a bank account, also lied to his friend and said he had washed the lottery ticket by mistake.