‘I didn’t believe it.’ How woman turns losing Michigan lottery ticket into big prize

A Michigan woman’s lottery ticket wasn’t a winner, yet she managed to turn her loss into a big prize by doing just one thing — scanning it.

Lottery players who play the $300,000,000 Diamond Riches game — and lose — are able to enter a “Second Chance” drawing by scanning their non-winning tickets via the Michigan Lottery mobile app, according to lottery officials.

The Wayne County woman did exactly that, according to a Nov. 21 news release.

One of her non-winning tickets won the grand $100,000 prize during the random drawing on Oct. 19, officials said.

“I got a call one afternoon and the caller ID showed it was from the state of Michigan, which I thought was strange,” the 62-year-old player told lottery officials. “I assumed it was a scam call and I almost didn’t answer, but then decided to at the last minute. When the woman said she was with the Michigan Lottery calling to inform me of my $100,000 prize, I didn’t believe it.”

While on the phone, she realized she also had an email notifying her of her prize.

“That’s when I knew it was real,” she said. “I called my daughter right away to tell her the good news!”

She plans to start her granddaughter’s college fund, pay off bills and donate to charity before saving the rest of her winnings, according to the news release.

“Winning is great and I now know that it’s definitely worth it to scan (a) losing ticket,” she said in the release.

After taxes, the woman received about $72,000.

This story was originally published November 21, 2022 at 12:58 PM with the headline "‘I didn’t believe it.’ How woman turns losing Michigan lottery ticket into big prize."