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$3M lotto winner stumbles upon jackpot notification in her spam folder

“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,” the winner said.
Laura Spears realized she won $3 million in the Michigan Lottery after checking her spam folder.
Laura Spears realized she won $3 million in the Michigan Lottery after checking her spam folder.Michigan Lottery

A Michigan woman nearly missed out on her $3 million prize because her notification email landed in her spam folder.

Laura Spears, 55, bought a Mega Millions lottery ticket online, correctly picking the five white balls drawn on New Year's Eve — 02-05-30-46-61. With those picks, she won the game's $1 million second-place prize that a separate drawing multiplied to $3 million.

“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,” Spears told MiLotteryConnect. “A few days later, I was looking for a missing email from someone, so I checked the spam folder in my email account."

"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!"

Spears, an Oakland County woman, told the Michigan Lottery that she will use the winnings to retire early and share with family.

“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,” Spears said.