A Michigan Lottery player in Washtenaw County was wise to be skeptical when he received an email claiming that he won a $99,821 lottery prize.
But the prize was real, and he almost missed his opportunity to claim it. He claimed the prize one day before it expired.
The player, who chose to remain anonymous, won the prize in a monthly second chance drawing. He earned entries into the drawing by playing the Monthly Jackpot game at michiganlottery.com.
Lotto winner deleted notification email
“I have been playing the Monthly Jackpot game a lot because of the second chance component,” the winner told Michigan Lottery Connect. “When I saw the email notifying me that I had won the second chance jackpot, I thought it was a scam email, so I deleted it.”
Even after the Lottery made more attempts to contact him, he still wasn’t convinced it was real.
“After that I got a few more emails regarding the prize and even a voicemail from the Lottery, but I didn’t think much of it because I still thought it was a scam,” he said.
As the deadline to claim the prize got closer, he finally called the Lottery to confirm that he actually won.
“I decided to reach out to the Lottery just in case the email was legitimate,” he said. “When they confirmed the prize was real, I was so surprised and thankful that I decided to call!”
The 70-year-old winner said he’ll use the winnings to pay off his home and retire.
How to tell if a Lottery email is legitimate
If you’ve ever received an email claiming that you won big money, chances are it was an attempt to scam you. But the Michigan Lottery does send emails to winners of second chance drawings and tickets purchased online.
So, how can you tell if an email is real and not a scam? Just remember these pointers to make sure you don’t fall victim to fraudulent email or telephone call schemes:
- You can’t win a lottery prize unless you bought a ticket or entered a drawing.
- You’ll never have to make a payment in order to receive your prize.
- Powerball and Mega Millions do not notify winners by email or phone. A legitimate email will come from the Michigan Lottery, only if you win on an online ticket.
- Never click a link in an email or give out any personal information if something doesn’t seem right.
- To confirm a legitimate email, call the Michigan Lottery at (844) 917-6325.
Monthly Jackpot is an online game with two ways to win
Monthly Jackpot is a connect-style online instant game. To play, simply select a wager amount, and click play. Symbols will appear in the play grid. Reveal a cluster of 3 or more matching symbols to win a prize, up to $100,000.
Players earn a chance at another big prize every time they play. Any time someone plays the game, a part of the purchase price is added to a progressive jackpot that one player will win in each month’s Monthly Jackpot second chance drawing. After each drawing, the jackpot resets to $5,000.
For every 50 cents wagered on the game, players earn one entry into the next month’s drawing. A jackpot winner is drawn at random from all the entries for that month.
Since the game launched in April, there have been six jackpot prizes awarded:
- April 2022 – $338,256 progressive jackpot prize
- May 2022 – $178,116 progressive jackpot prize
- June 2022 – $139,221 progressive jackpot prize
- July 2022 – $121,668 progressive jackpot prize
- August 2022 – $104,730 progressive jackpot prize
- September 2022 – $99,821 progressive jackpot prize
The final two drawings of 2022 will take place on Nov. 9 and Dec. 14.
