A third of National Lottery scratchcard games currently on sale have already had their top prize won.
This is the case for 15 out of the 50 scratchcard games available to buy now in shops or online.
In some cases, players could be paying up to £5 for a scratchcard in the hope of winning a jackpot that no longer exists.
Camelot lists all its current National Lottery scratchcard games on its website, along with how many top prizes are remaining.
For example, there are no top prizes left for a £5 scratchcard where the jackpot is £100,000 every month for a year, totalling £1,200,00.
Another scratchcard is listed as costing £1 to pay and offers a £10,000 jackpot, but this top prize is also no longer available.
You may still be able to win smaller amounts on these scratchcard games.
Scratchcards with jackpots of less than £121,000 can still be sold in shops, even if all the top prizes have been paid out.
For games that have a top prize worth more than £121,000, only rolls of scratchcards that are already on display can be sold.
This means no new packs can be put out once a shop has been told the main prize has gone.
A roll of scratchcards can hold around 150 cards per pack.
A Camelot spokesperson said: "Top prize Scratchcard information is fully available on the National Lottery website and can also be found on our in-store digital media screens.
"National Lottery Scratchcards have a wide range of different prizes available to be won on them.
"Even when there are no top prizes or only one top prize remaining, there are still loads of other prizes available to be won from the remaining prize pool."
Scratchcard games where the top price has been won
The National Lottery website lists all its live scratchcard games, along with how many jackpots are still available.
The following scratchcards no longer have jackpots still ready to claim.
They are listed alongside their game number and their top prize:
- £100,000 A Month For A Year (1262) - £1,200,000 top prize
£250,000 Multiplier Orange (1261) - £250,000 top prize
5X (1224) - £10,000 top prize
50X (1255) - £1,000,000 top prize
Cash 7s (1192) - £1,000,000 top prize
Cash Vault (1265) - £300,000 top prize
Cashword Bonus (1251) - £300,000 top prize
Gold 7s (1211) - £70,000 top prize
Lucky Numbers (1227) - £300,000 top prize
Monopoly Riches (1253) - £2,000,000 top prize
Red Hot Bingo (1223) - £300,000 top prize
Super 7s (1256) - £1,000,000 top prize
Triple Jackpot (1241) - £1,000,000 top prize
Trivial Pursuit (1247) - £1,000,000 top prize
Win All (1217) - £100,000 top prize
