Getting a spam email that says you won a lot of money isn’t uncommon.
Having that email lead to you winning $3 million is.
Laura Spears, 55, of Oakland County noticed an email from the Michigan Lottery in her spam folder recently. It informed her she was a $3 million Mega Millions winner.
Spears is one of two recent winners of more than $1 million apiece in the Michigan Lottery. Since the start of 2021, 63 players have won $1 million or more in the Michigan Lottery.
Missing email from friend leads to $3 million
Spears noticed the Mega Millions jackpot was growing and decided it was time to buy a ticket.
She purchased an online ticket on Dec. 31. Included on the ticket were numbers 2-5-30-46-61.
Those five numbers matched the white balls in the drawing. Spears also had the Megaplier, increasing her winnings from $1 million to $3 million.
The only problem for Spears is she wasn’t aware she had won at the time. It was only when she was seeking an email from a friend that she discovered her life-changing winnings.
“I saw an ad on Facebook that the Mega Millions jackpot was getting pretty high, so I got on my account and bought a ticket,” Spears told the Michigan Lottery. “A few days later, I was looking for a missing email from someone, so I checked the spam folder in my email account. That’s when I saw an email from the Lottery saying I had won a prize. I couldn’t believe what I was reading, so I logged in to my Lottery account to confirm the message in the email. It’s all still so shocking to me that I really won $3 million!”
Spears claimed her prize at Lottery headquarters and will share the winnings with family and retire early.
$1.43 million Lotto 47 jackpot ticket sold in Warren
Last week, another Michigander won more than $1 million in the Michigan Lottery.
A Lotto 47 jackpot ticket was sold at a Shell gas station in Warren worth $1.43 million.
The ticket sold contained the winning numbers of 07-12-19-30-43-47. It’s the first Lotto 47 jackpot won since Dec. 18.
The winner had not claimed the prize as of last week, but tickets are valid for one year from the date of the drawing.
Who benefits from the Michigan Lottery?
Approximately 35% of every dollar spent on Michigan Lottery tickets benefits the Michigan education system and local businesses.
All the profits earned go to the School Aid Fund. That has been more than $26 billion since 1972, including a record $1.419 billion in 2021.
Over the past decade, licensed Michigan lottery retailers have earned more than $2 billion in sales commissions and bonuses.
