Woman panics after throwing away Scratch-Its ticket worth $260,000
It was a race against time for a young Melbourne woman who accidentally threw away her winning Instant Scratch-Its ticket that had won a top prize of $1,000 a week for five years.
The woman, who is from the suburb of St Helena, thanked her lucky stars that her partner retrieved the winning ticket from the bin to double check it.
Thankfully, the lucky winner was soon reunited with her winning $5 Live the Life ticket, which was purchased at Aqueduct News & Lotto, St Helena.
Speaking with an official from The Lott this morning, the ecstatic woman explained she’d almost missed out on her $260,000 prize.
“I love Instant Scratch-Its, but I’ve never bought one of these tickets,” she told The Lott.
The fortunate winner told The Lott that she received the ticket as a gift from her boyfriend a few days ago.
“When I first scratched it, I thought it didn’t win anything, so I just tossed it in the bin. But then, my boyfriend grabbed it out of the bin and checked it for me, and he said: ‘What the hell, you’ve won the top prize!’”
“I didn’t believe a word he said. I assumed he was just pranking me, or it was some kind of novelty ticket,” the young woman laughed.
After a bit of convincing from her boyfriend, the woman checked the instructions on the back of the ticket several times and the life-changing news finally sank in.
“It was a big shock. It was really hard to comprehend! I always dreamt of that moment, but it was very surreal when it happened,” she said.
“I’ve never won anything like this, so it’s amazing!”
Scratch-It winner shares how she plans to spend her windfall
The Scratch-It winner explained that it was a fantastic surprise right before Christmas and that her family was stoked when she broke the news.
When asked how she planned to spend her instant win, the Victorian explained she had one thing in mind.
“I am not sure what I will do with it. I am still coming to terms with the news,” she laughed initially.
Eventually she said: “I think we will definitely use it to buy a house, though!”
Aqueduct News & Lotto owner Rohit Narang said he was proud to have sold a major prize to one of his customers right before Christmas and he was fortunate to share the winning moment.
“The young lady came in here to check her ticket. She was blown away by the news! It was amazing to have been a part of her winning moment,” said Mr Narang.
“We wish her all the best with her windfall and hope it makes for a lovely Christmas with her family and friends,” he said.
Before adding. “Fingers crossed, we sell more major prize wins to our customers before Christmas time. That would be a fantastic way to end the year.”
In the last financial year, there were 176 Instant Scratch-Its top prize winners across The Lott’s jurisdictions who collectively took home more than $14.17 million in top prizes.
During this time, Instant Scratch-Its players enjoyed more than 31.2 million wins across all prize tiers worth more than $274.31 million – equating to more than $750,000 won on Instant Scratch-Its every day.
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Want a second chance at winning?
Each month, Instant Scratch-Its’ 2nd Chance Draw gives you another chance to turn your eligible non-winning Instant Scratch-Its into a winner.
The monthly 2nd Chance Draw is conducted on the second Wednesday of every month.
In March, players had the chance to win one of 10 prizes of $10,000 in the 2nd Chance Draw.
To enter this month’s 2nd Chance Draw, players will need to visit thelott.com to win up to $10,000 from their non-winning ticket.
Previous second chance winners confessed they planned to spend their bonus windfall over a fancy lunch with friends, while others split the winnings with their best friends.
If gambling is a problem for you go to Gambling Help Online or call 1800 858 858.
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