OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN – An Oakland County woman got the surprise of a lifetime when she checked the spam folder in her email account and saw an email that she’d won a $3 million Mega Millions prize from the Michigan Lottery.
Laura Spears, 55, matched the five white balls – 02-05-30-46-61 – in the Dec. 31, 2021, drawing to win a $1 million prize. Thanks to the Megaplier, the prize was multiplied to $3 million. She bought her winning ticket online at MichiganLottery.com.
“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,” said Spears. “A few days later, I was looking for a missing email from someone, so I checked the spam folder in my email account.
“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. It’s all still so shocking to me that I really won $3 million!”
Spears recently visited Lottery headquarters to claim the big prize. With her winnings, she plans to share with her family and retire earlier than she had planned.
“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,” Spears said.
The Mega Millions jackpot was last won on Oct. 22, 2021, when a family in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. won $108 million. The current jackpot stands at $376 million.
Mega Millions drawings take place each Tuesday and Friday evening. Each Mega Millions play is only $2. For an additional $1 per play, players have the opportunity to add a “Megaplier” that can multiply non-jackpot prizes by up to five times. Mega Millions tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Mega Millions tickets may be purchased online at MichiganLottery.com and at the Lottery’s 10,500 retailers around the state until 10:45 p.m. the day of the drawing.