Woman checks her spam and finds she won $3 million in the lottery

[mahatmakanejeeves]

A woman checked her spam and found she won $3 million in the lottery — but you should still be wary of scams

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Technology

A woman checked her spam and found she won $3 million in the lottery — but you should still be wary of scams

By Annabelle Timsit
Yesterday at 11:20 a.m. EST

A 55-year-old Michigan woman who won $3 million playing the Michigan Lottery could have missed out on claiming her prize if she hadn’t checked her spam folder.

The Michigan Lottery on Friday published the story of Oakland County resident Laura Spears, who found out via her spam folder that she had won a $3 million Mega Millions prize in the Dec. 31, 2021, drawing.

“I was looking for a missing email from someone, so I checked the spam folder in my email account,” Spears told Michigan Lottery Connect. “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.”

Spears then claimed her prize at the Michigan Lottery headquarters in Lansing. She told Michigan Lottery Connect, “It’s all still so shocking to me that I really won $3 million!” ... “I definitely added the Michigan Lottery to my safe senders list just in case I ever get lucky enough to receive another email about a huge prize,” added Spears, who said she will use the prize money to retire early.

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By Annabelle Timsit
Annabelle Timsit is a breaking news reporter for The Washington Post's London hub, covering news as it unfolds in the United States and around the world during the early morning hours in Washington. Twitter https://twitter.com/BelleTimsit

[hlthe2b]

1. I have yet to see answered how the hell the lottery knew SHE held the winning ticket?

I haven't played in years, but afaik, these tickets are anonymous UNTIL you sign the back and present it for the claim. How did this happen? (If it is explained in the article, I'm on my cell phone and can't call it up)

[stopdiggin]

3. says she signed in to her 'Lottery account'

something else I've never heard of. I'm with you on this one. I don't think this is the way those things work.

Edit: Other posters have proven I have no idea what I'm talking about. I'll go ahead and hazard this - if you don't check your spam account on a fairly regular basis - that's actually a habit you ought to go about correcting. All sorts of things end up in there.

[Rincewind]

4. You can buy Mega Million tickets online.

That's what I usually do, they e-mail you if you win.

[LisaL]

5. Hers was actually a legit lottery and she purchased a ticket on-line.

NT

[Emile]

2. Laura, I think I love you!