A Mega Millions lottery ticket: $2.
The payout: a whopping $1.28 billion.
The winning numbers: 13, 36, 45, 57, 67 and Mega quantity 14.
It’s the second-largest jackpot within the recreation’s historical past and the third-largest lottery drawing general, officers stated. This comes after no winning ticket was offered for Tuesday’s $830-million drawing.
The money possibility now sits at $747.2 million, Mega Millions officers introduced Friday.
Cindy McAdoo-Stewart drove from Lancaster to purchase her Mega Millions lottery tickets at Bluebird Liquor in Hawthorne.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
“We are thrilled with the opportunity Mega Millions provides to retailers, players and good causes throughout the country,” Ohio Lottery Director Pat McDonald, present lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium, stated in a news launch. “The Mega Millions group, and indeed much of the country, look with anticipation for tonight’s drawing.”
There’s a few 1-in-303-million likelihood of winning the jackpot, in keeping with Mega Millions.
Blue Bird Liquor retailer in Hawthorne is taken into account one of many luckiest lottery retailers within the state. Dozens of residents from throughout Southern California headed there Friday morning to attempt to maximize their luck.
The liquor retailer’s line wrapped across the block Friday morning.
Cindy McAdoo-Stewart, 62, left her residence within the Antelope Valley about 6 a.m. to be able to beat the road.
People stand in line to purchase tickets for the Mega Millions lottery.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
“I heard about Blue Bird some time ago, so I came from Lancaster. I picked my mother up and I said, ‘Let’s try our luck and let’s go to Blue Bird,’” McAdoo-Stewart stated.
If she have been to win the historic jackpot prize, she plans to care for her household and donate 10% of the cash to her church.
McAdoo-Stewart bought $6 value of tickets for herself, and her mom, Mary McAdoo, purchased $8, noting that “it only takes one ticket.”
Mike Dietz, 46, made a two-hour trek from Riverside to purchase $40 value of lottery tickets at Blue Bird. Dietz, who used to dwell in Hawthorne, stated that the drive was value it to attempt to win the billion-dollar prize. This is his first time ever shopping for a lottery ticket.
“I’m here to try to hit this billion dollars and share the wealth with all my family and friends and any charity I can and live a healthy life,” Dietz stated.
George Vazquez, 67, famous that he waited in a 45-minute line at Blue Bird in hopes of changing into a millionaire — not a billionaire, he stated, as a result of he’s “willing to share.”
Ronald Marine, proper, sells $200 value of Mega Millions lottery tickets to buyer Paul Sandoval.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Vazquez, a self-proclaimed “animal lover” who owns an English bulldog and three chihuahuas, hopes to assist get animals off the streets if he wins the jackpot prize.
“If I win the whole thing, I want to open up a sanctuary for dogs and cats — have a place for them to live and eat,” Vazquez stated. “I don’t like seeing [animals] walking the streets without food or water, so I would like to take care of them.”
Vazquez additionally assured that every of his 10 children and 14 grandchildren “will get a piece” of the prize.
The jackpot has been rolling over since April, with nobody winning the highest prize. In 2022 alone, 4 Mega Millions jackpots have been in California, New York, Minnesota and Tennessee. The highest jackpot thus far this yr was $426 million, gained by Kristen Wellenstein with a ticket bought in Woodland Hills on Jan. 28.
Despite troublesome odds, corporations are additionally hedging their bets.
After spending $100,000 on Tuesday’s drawing and never getting fortunate, Raising Cane’s co-Chief Executive AJ Kumaran stated that the corporate is dropping the identical quantity for right now’s drawing.
If one in every of their tickets is a winner, the leaders of the corporate plan to separate the billion-dollar prize evenly amongst its staff, which means every employee would obtain about $13,000.
“[We’re] hoping one of these tickets works as hard as our crew members do,” founder and co-CEO of the company Todd Graves said on Twitter.
As people get ready to buy their tickets today, experts and the Mega Millions company caution them to be aware of possible scams.
Aura, a personal digital security and identity theft protection company, works to identify various scams, including those that are lottery-related.
According to Aura’s chief scientist and cyber security expert Zulfikar Ramzan, lottery scams are most common through official-looking emails, texts or phone calls that claim you have won the lottery. Usually, they ask for a small prepayment, sometimes claiming it will cover the taxes.
Then “the scammer goes dark, and the “lottery winnings” never come,” Ramzan said.
The Mega Millions company assures that no representative of the company will ever contact anyone about winning a prize.
“All Mega Millions members encourage responsible play — please enjoy the opportunity to play the game while keeping your play in balance,” the company said in a news release.
Scams also occur through fraudulent websites claiming to sell tickets online. Scammers might also reach out and claim to have won the prize, Ramzan said. They then claim to want to donate some of the money and often ask for personal or financial information, which they can use to drain money from your accounts.
“Before signing up with Aura, one of our customers was contacted by a ‘lottery winner’ after a recent large jackpot saying that he was giving away a large sum of money,” Ramzan said. “After giving away financial information to receive the funds, the scammer placed thousands of dollars in charges to a debit card, putting the caller’s account in the negative.”
Ramzan said there are many ways to avoid lottery scams. He encourages people to buy tickets only from authorized stores for the standard price and to watch out for scammers who reach out claiming they have won a prize.
Ramzan also warns against divulging sensitive information to unknown numbers or email addresses.
“Scammers will use the lottery as a way to get you to buy false tickets for a lower cost. Lottery tickets are set at a standard price. If someone is offering to sell you an “official lottery ticket” at a discounted price, it is most likely a scam,” Ramzan said.