Facebook friend `steals` Australian woman`s prize money through selfie

Melbourne: Posting a selfie with a prize ticket could prove costly as this Australian woman realised when a Facebook 'friend' made away with her $900 prize money she won at a horse race.

The woman named Chantelle had been at the Ascot racecourse in Perth to watch the Melbourne Cup and was thrilled to have won the cash after picking Prince of Penzance at odds of 101-1, news.com.au reported.

After the horse won, Chantelle took a celebratory Facebook selfie with the winning ticket and the caption "Winner winner chicken dinner".

What Chantelle did not realise was the barcode from the ticket could be used to claim the money by someone else.

For their $20 bet, Chantelle and her two mates won $825, but when they went to collect their prize just 15 minutes later, they were told someone had already collected it, using her photo featuring her winning ticket.

"Someone had a pretty good game at filtering my picture and cutting out my barcode and putting it into an automated machine," Chantelle was quoted as saying.

The culprit is likely one of her Facebook friends.

"To the low life who is obviously my friend on Facebook and used my photo to claim our winnings. You ruined my day," a miffed Chantelle wrote on Facebook.