He accidentally purchased an extra lottery ticket online — and won $2 million
A happy accident led to a Michigan man winning two $1 million prizes in the lottery.
Samir Mazahem, 56, of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, won $1 million twice after he accidentally bought two tickets in the June 9 Mega Millions drawing, according to the Michigan Lottery.
Mazahem purchased his first ticket online using numbers that are family birthdays – 01-05-09-10-23. He bought a second ticket by mistake, after he noticed he forgot to save the lucky numbers as favorites to play them in the future.
“Once I figured out, I had bought two tickets with identical numbers, I was a little bummed but didn’t think much about it,” Mazahem told lottery officials.
But the accident had a major pay off after he recently logged into the lottery app to find that he had two $1 million prizes pending, said Mazahem.
“I couldn’t believe it was real,” he said. “It took several days for the reality to set in that my mistake had paid off to the tune of $2 million!”
The new multi-millionaire claimed his prize at the Lottery headquarters and plans to purchase a home with his new fortune and leave the rest for savings.
“Winning is exciting and gives me some comfort knowing that when I retire, I will have money in the bank,” Mazahem said.
Mega Millions tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington DC, and the US Virgin Islands. Drawings take place every Tuesday and Friday night.
