A man in Michigan won a lottery jackpot despite at first believing that the news was a scam. Photo by Robert Lessmann/Shutterstock
July 22 (UPI) — A Michigan man said he won a $139,221 prize from the Michigan Lottery, despite believing that the initial email notifying him of his victory was a scam.
The 32-year-old man from Oakland County, Mich., chose to remain anonymous, but said on Thursday that the money “couldn’t have come at a better time.”
He said, though, that when he first heard the news of his jackpot, which was sent by the lottery via email, he thought that it was likely a scam.
“My wife called me crying one day and told me about an email that had just came through informing me that I’d won a $139,221 Lottery prize,” the man said. “We agreed not to get too excited yet, thinking maybe it was a scam email.”
“When we called the Lottery and confirmed the prize was real, my wife started crying and I couldn’t stop pacing the house in shock.”
The lucky winner said that he then went to the Michigan Lottery headquarters to claim his prize. He told the lottery that he was planning to use the money to take a vacation, and spend the rest opening college funds for his two daughters.
The Michigan Lottery said that the man didn’t actually win the money by playing the regular lottery game. His victory actually came when he was selected in a random July drawing that he entered by playing the state’s online lottery game.
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