Man thought he won $4,000 on NC scratch-off ticket. But he was missing a few zeros
What a North Carolina man thought was a $4,000 lottery prize turned out to be much bigger.
Jason Keel stopped at the Fuel Stop in Raleigh on Saturday and bought a 100X The Cash scratch-off lottery ticket for $20, according to a Wednesday release from the North Carolina Education Lottery.
He told lottery officials he usually scans the tickets with the app, but something was different this time.
“It said I had to go to the claims center,” Keel, a construction manager, told lottery officials. “So, then I scratched the numbers and just saw a 4 and I thought it was $4,000. When I hit the end and saw $4 million, at that point I was in shock!”
When he claimed his prize Tuesday, he had the choice of $200,000 a year over 20 years or a lump sum of $2.4 million, according to the lottery.
He chose the lump sum and took home $1,698,006 after taxes, the release says.
But so far he has no plans to spend the winnings.
“No purchases at this point,” Keel told lottery officials. “I’ll be saving.”
