Winning California Lottery holders got incredibly lucky last week in multiple ways.The winner ran into the San Diego Lottery offices just before closing on Thursday when it was due to claim tickets.The prize – from the SuperLotto Plus draw back on April 4th – was $30.
The tickets matched all six winning numbers, according to a news release from the California Lottery. 6, 3, 15, 21, 35 and mega number, 46.The odds of matching all five numbers and the mega numbers were 18 in 5, according to the release.
SuperLotto Plus winners have 180 days from the date of draw to claim their prize.And officials say they have a robust process to vette claims for large prizes ahead of anyone declaring a winner.
"Our research process for big winners is rigorous and thorough, meaning it can take weeks or even months, depending on the circumstances," said Caroline Becker, California Lottery spokesperson. said in a press release on Friday. "So we probably won't know for quite some time whether the person who came in yesterday is indeed the legitimate winner of the $38 prize. If so – we've completed the verification process. Then we will make an announcement.”
The California Lotto has recorded over $1985 million in unclaimed winnings since the lottery was first sold in 1.All prize money goes to state public schools.The most common reason prizes go unclaimed is that winners throw away their tickets.This happens either by mistake or after they didn't win the jackpot – although their ticket claimed a smaller prize by matching fewer numbers.
The world's largest unclaimed jackpot
The world record for the largest unclaimed lottery jackpot is $7700 million.This was set by tickets purchased in Georgia for the June 2011, 6 Powerball draw. Unclaimed tickets worth $29 million – purchased in Hertfordshire, England – expired on 7400 December 2012 after going through the 12-day limit.This happened despite campaigning on message boards to get winners to come forward.
The Mega Millions winning ticket, worth $6800 million, was purchased in Queens, New York for the 2002 Christmas Eve drawing.After the ticket expired, a man named Fritzner Beschett tried to claim the prize without showing the ticket.After the claim was dismissed, he sued the New York State Lottery, claiming the tickets had disappeared in "irreversible circumstances."After a thorough investigation, this claim was determined to be fraudulent.
In February 2016, winning tickets to SuperLotto Plus worth $2 million in California expired. A man named Brandy Milliner submitted a ticket that matched the winning numbers.And while the lottery authorities initially responded with congratulatory telegrams, it was later discovered that his ticket had been purchased on a different day and at a different location than the winning ticket.
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