This is crap.
If the scratch off was legitimate and is a winner within the context of contest rules, then the lottery MUST pay up. It isn't the player's fault if a ticket is misprinted.
The so called "verification" is to prevent people from forging phoney scratch off ticket. This is not the case here. The ticket was real and was a winner. It is just as likely that the lottery's computer database documented the winning ticket incorrectly.