Shock email discovery makes nurse an instant millionaire

A Michigan woman almost missed out on a US$3 million (AUD$4.175m) lottery prize when the winning email from state lottery officials landed in her email spam folder.

Laura Spears, a 55-year-old nurse from Oakland County, Michigan, will never overlook her spam folder again after discovering the life-changing prize sitting in hers.

The lucky winner matched five winning numbers in a New Year's Eve draw worth $1 million, which was then tripled thanks to a bonus Megaplier – taking her total to $3 million.

Ms Spears' fortune tripled because she spent an extra $2 to multiply her winnings.

“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,” explained Ms Spears.

Woman discovers $3 million Lotto prize while searching for missing email

Ms Spears explained that it was several days later, while checking for a missing email from someone in her spam folder she came across the life-changing email.

“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!” she exclaimed.

After claiming the prize at Lottery headquarters last week, the newly-minted millionaire said she plans to share her winnings with family and retire early.

She will also keep a close eye on her spam folder to make sure she doesn’t miss any other life-changing emails from lottery officials.

“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,” laughed Ms Spears.

The winning numbers in the Mega Millions draw on December 31 were 2, 5, 30, 46, 6, with Megaball 8.

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Aussie man finds $1 million Lotto ticket while cleaning his house

While most people dread cleaning the house, one man was rewarded for his efforts when he discovered a winning $1 million X Lotto ticket in a pile of clutter.

The millionaire, from Blackwood in the foothills of Adelaide, held one of two division one winning entries in the Monday and Wednesday X Lotto draw 4139 on Wednesday, December 15.

“I thought I’d already checked them, so I was going to throw them out, but then I decided I’d check them again, just to be safe,” explained the winner.

“Boy, am I glad I didn’t throw that ticket out! It was the last ticket I checked,” he added.

When asked how he planned to spend his fortune, the winning man had more modest plans.

“We’ll pay off the mortgage and look after our kids,” he shared.

The couple also planned to invest their winnings and save for their future retirement.

If gambling is a problem for you go to Gambling Help Online or call 1800 858 858.

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