Lottery tickets and scratch cards: The kiosk receives a bonus for selling the winning ticket
Photo: Erik S. Lesser / dpa
Lea Rose Fiega had probably not expected that.
The woman from the US state of Massachusetts became a millionaire overnight - thanks to the honesty and friendliness of a kiosk seller.
Fiega had bought a scratch card in the kiosk, but then didn't realize that she was actually holding the big prize.
"I was in a hurry, was only on my lunch break and picked it up very quickly," she says.
"It didn't look like a win, so I gave the ticket to the kiosk owner and asked him to throw it away."
The ticket was then behind the till for ten days until the seller picked it up again.
"One evening I looked through the tickets that were supposed to be thrown in the trash and found that the number on this lot was not scratched up," Abhi Shah, the shop owner's son, told US media.
"I picked up the number and it was a million dollar ticket."
Fiega is a regular customer in the small shop, so the kiosk seller knew immediately whose lot he had found.
Shah visited the ignorant winner at work to bring the news to her.
"He came into my office and said: 'My parents would like to see you,'" the woman describes the events.
At first she would have waved it off because she was working.
However, Shah insisted that she follow him into the kiosk.
“I was totally incredulous.
I cried, I hugged her, ”she says.
Before she won, Fiega had already survived a very severe corona infection in January.
That was already like winning the lottery for them.
Now she feels doubly happy.
“I mean who's doing this?
They are great people.
I am more than blessed, ”she said.
The story happened back in March, but it was only now known.
For the sale of the winning ticket, the kiosk receives a bonus of $ 10,000 from the state lottery commission.
Fiega said she gave the family an extra reward.
She wants to save the rest for her retirement.
asc / AP