Man Accidentally Wins $2 Million Lottery Prize After Purchasing Extra Ticket
Most minor mix-ups happen in daily life with few consequences. We buy the wrong item at the store, accidentally buy a duplicate or the wrong size and lose a few bucks at most.
But one man from Dearborn Heights, Michigan, made a small mistake that paid off big in a way no one could have predicted.
Samir Mazahem picked the five winning numbers for the drawing that took place on June 9. The 56-year-old chose 01-05-09-10-23 online when buying his Mega Millions ticket.
As often happens with online ordering, Mazahem accidentally purchased another ticket with the same number series when he went back to check on his numbers.
Mazahem told the Michigan Lottery what caused the mix-up.
“I went online and bought a ticket using numbers that are family birthdays,” he said.
“I forgot to save the numbers as favorites in the app, so I went back in and set them up as favorites so I could easily play them in the future.”
“What I didn’t realize, is that meant I would be buying a second ticket with the same numbers. Once I figured out I had bought two tickets with identical numbers, I was a little bummed but didn’t think much about it.”
In most cases, buying two tickets with the same numbers would decrease the likelihood of a win — but it worked out quite well for Mazahem.
“I recently logged into the app to check on some tickets I had bought, and that is when I saw I had two $1 million prizes pending,” he explained.
“Saying that I was stunned is an understatement.”
“I couldn’t believe it was real. It took several days for the reality to set in that my mistake had paid off to the tune of $2 million!”
His initial win would have netted him a nice sum, but because each ticket was worth $1 million, he made off with double the win.
“Winning is exciting and gives me some comfort knowing that when I retire, I will have money in the bank,” he said.
According to Michigan Lottery, Mazahem went in-person to the headquarters to claim his money. They said he plans to purchase a house and put the rest in savings.
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