Melbourne: An Australian man became an instant multi-millionaire after accidentally winning a lottery twice, the media reported on Tuesday.
The man who hails from Point Cook in Melbourne’s west accidentally entered a Tattslotto draw twice on February 4 with the same numbers, Xinhua news agency reported.
When the man’s numbers were drawn he won two division one prize worth $1 million each. “At first I thought ‘wow I’ve won ($1 million)’ so at first, I was lying in bed shaking,” the man said on Tuesday.
“But then after an hour or so I realized I hadn’t checked the rest of my tickets so I looked at the net one and to my surprise, I found that I’d played the same game twice. “I wasn’t expecting to win once let alone twice.” The man pocketed just under $2 million tax-free from his mistake and plans to buy a home, a Ferrari and take some time off work to travel and see the Seven Wonders of the World.
It is not the first time that a Melbourne resident has accidentally won a lottery twice. A woman bought two Tattslotto tickets in July 2013, winning two division one prizes. The woman won a total of $638,000, half of which she put towards paying off her mortgage.
This piece was published in Mid-day.