Samir Mazahem, 56, of Dearborn Heights, meant to buy one online ticket for
the June 9 drawing so he could play his family's birthdays —
01-05-09-10-23.
After realizing he forgot to save the numbers as favorites so he could play them in the future, Mazahem logged onto the
Michigan Lottery app to store them.
“What I didn’t realize is that meant I would be buying a second ticket with the same numbers," he
told Michigan Lottery. "Once I figured out I had bought two tickets with
identical numbers, I was a little bummed but didn’t think much about
it."
Mazahem said he recently logged onto the app to check on some tickets he had bought and saw that he had two tickets, each worth
$1 million, pending.
Michigan Lottery allows for tickets to be claimed up to a year after the drawing date.
"Saying that I was stunned is an understatement," he said. "I couldn’t believe
it was real. It took several days for the reality to set in that my
mistake had paid off to the tune of $2 million.”
Mazahem has since claimed his winnings and said he plans on buying a home and then saving the rest.
“Winning is exciting and gives me some comfort knowing that when I retire, I will have money in the bank,” he said.
