A Michigan woman is $3 million richer after winning the Michigan Lottery Mega Millions prize — but things could have been very different if she had not checked her spam folder.
Laura Spears, 55, of Oakland County, was searching for an email when she decided to check the folder. That's when she noticed an email notifying her she had won a $3 million Mega Millions prize, according to the Michigan Lottery.
"I couldn’t believe what I was reading, so I logged in to my Lottery account to confirm the message in the email," she said. "It’s all still so shocking to me that I really won $3 million!"
Spears' ticket matched the five white balls — 02-05-30-46-61 — drawn on Dec. 31, 2021. The Megaplier boosted her win to $3 million.
"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," she explained.
"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," she added.
The Mega Millions jackpot was last won on Oct. 22, 2021, when a family in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, won $108 million. They chose to remain anonymous but told lottery officials that they spend $60 weekly playing the lottery and intend to use their winnings to buy a motorhome and "when the time is right, they will bid farewell to their jobs and see the country," according to Fox 10.
The winning ticket was purchased at a bar in Lake Havasu City, which is across the Colorado River from California.
The current Mega Millions jackpot stands at $376 million.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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