A single mother of four turned a $1 mistake into a $14 million California lottery win when she paid extra at a self-service lotto machine at her local CVS store.
Thuan Le, of Santa Ana, Calif. placed $6 in the machine as opposed to her usual $5 to get $4 worth of Powerball tickets and a $1 SuperLotto Plus ticket, according to California Lottery officials.
Rather than getting a $1 refund, Le opted instead to purchase another SuperLotto Plus ticket, which turned out to be the winning ticket – 5, 33, 25, 46, 32, and the Mega number 26 – which turned her into a multi-millionaire.
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The following day, Le returned to check her numbers at the CVS.
After learning she had won, Le reportedly ran out from the store screaming with the winning ticket in her hand.
Le immediately called her sons.
One of her four boys came over to her house and took her to claim her prize.
"We thought she was joking," her son told California Lottery officials. “But we thought would she really joke like this? My older brother said, 'Yes, she would.'"
Le says she plans to use her winnings to, "buy a house, travel, and visit her parents in Vietnam," according to a lottery news release.
Le's full name was released as is required by California law, however her photo as well as other identifiable information was not disclosed.
For having sold the $14 million winning ticket, the CVS location will receive a lotto bonus of $70,000, ABC News reported. (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2013/05/single-moms-lottery-mistake-wins-14-million/)
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In early April,
a Canadian woman was similarly shocked when she learned that what she believed to be a $40,000 winning lottery ticket was in reality a $40 million winning lottery ticket.
Unlike Le, however, Maria Carreiro, a 51-year-old Toronto mother of three, displayed her joy on television before millions of viewers, kicking up her legs and dancing about in a jig-like dance while thanking God in what she called her "happy dance."
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