Mystery $50m lotto winner revealed to be Melbourne mum: 'Shaking like a leaf'
The search is over for the mystery millionaire who bagged the $50 million Oz Lotto prize after a Victorian woman came forward carrying the winning ticket on Friday morning.
The mother from Cranbourne, who wishes to remain anonymous, only discovered she was the person everyone has been looking for since the October 4 draw three days before.
“I’m shaking and my head is spinning! I can’t believe this,” the woman laughed when speaking to an official from The Lott.
“I couldn’t believe it when I found out there was only one division one winner in Oz Lotto and that they purchased their ticket from Hampton Park. I thought to myself, ‘It can’t be me!’.”
“I decided to look up the winning numbers online this morning and cross them out on my ticket one by one. I was left shocked,” the woman said, adding that since she discovered the news, she hasn’t stopped “shaking like a leaf”.
“I only ever win $15 on a lottery ticket, so $50 million is out of this world. I’ve been playing for a few years, but I never expected this to happen to me,” she added. “I’ll tell my family once the prize lands in my bank account. It’s so hard to believe it’s true, so I have to see it myself first!”
When asked what she planned to do with her new fortune, the woman replied she first needed time to process what had just happened.
“This is life-changing!” she cried. “In all honestly, I can’t think right now. It’s too much of a surprise to think of what I’ll exactly do with my prize, but I know it will go to good use.”
“I’m so thankful and can’t wait for what’s to come.”
'A glory for Hampton Park'
The Melbournian, who purchased her winning ticket at Hampton Park Lott, held the only division one entry nationally in Oz Lotto draw 1494.
Hampton Park Lotto owner Annabelle Johnstone said her team and the entire city had been on the edge of their seats waiting for the winner to discover their multi-million-dollar fortune.
“We’re so happy to see the winner has discovered their spectacular win and has come forward after three days of complete mystery! It’s a glory for Hampton Park,” Ms Johnstone said.
“We still can’t believe we’ve sold a division one winning entry worth $50 million, so I can’t imagine how the winner is feeling after discovering this prize.”
“The entire team at Hampton Park Lotto couldn’t be happier for her, and we hope one day we can speak to her in person and congratulate her on her win. All the very best to her!” she added.
The winning numbers in Oz Lotto draw 1494 on Tuesday, 4 October 2022 were: 37, 42, 47, 39, 5, 17 and 20, while the supplementary numbers were 29, 22 and 38.
In the 2022 financial year, 19 division one winning Oz Lotto entries across the country collectively won more than $268.3 million.
Of the 19 Oz Lotto division one winning entries in the financial year, eight landed in New South Wales, five in Victoria, four in Queensland and one each in South Australia and Western Australia.
In the same period, more than 133.5 million winners took home more than $3.93 billion in prize money from their favourite games at The Lott, including TattsLotto, Monday & Wednesday Lotto, Powerball, Oz Lotto, Set for Life, Lucky Lotteries, Keno, Super 66, Lotto Strike and Instant Scratch-Its.
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