Forgotten Lottery Ticket Turns Into $1M Jackpot

Melbourne Man Finds $1M Surprise in Storage

Talk about luck—an Aussie man struck gold after stumbling upon an old lottery ticket in his storage unit.

• While searching for his passport, he found a stack of forgotten tickets.

• One of them, from the December 27 Weekday Windfall draw, turned out to be worth a life-changing A$1 million (about $1.1M USD).

• “I’m just glad I didn’t throw them out,” he said, still in shock.

The passport he was looking for? Expired. But the winnings? Very much alive.

Though he hasn’t decided how to spend the jackpot just yet, he joked, “I can definitely get a new passport now.”

Interestingly, in New Zealand, lottery players have up to a year to claim their prize. Still, about 2% of winnings go unclaimed every year—sometimes worth millions. In fact, back in 2003, a $3 million ticket from a Masterton shop was returned unclaimed.

A friendly reminder: maybe check that old drawer or glove box—you never know what forgotten fortune might be sitting there.