I was a millionaire for weeks without realising – I almost missed out on jackpot after ignoring crucial email
A CHARITY boss revealed that she almost missed out on a whopping £1million jackpot prize after she ignored her lotto emails.
Jacqui Shannon, 46, couldn’t be bothered to open messages titled, “news about your ticket” for three weeks as she thought she’d only won a small amount.
The charity worker couldn’t believe her luck when she logged into her National Lottery account in 2016 to see the eye-watering sum she had just pocketed.
Jacqui from Essex said: “I play online and tend to buy a few weeks-worth at a time, which is what I had done on this occasion, using £25 from a previous win.
“When I saw the email telling me I’d had a win I assumed it was something small so just didn’t get around to checking it.”
“Had I known I was a millionaire for those weeks, I wouldn’t have had to worry about how we were going to get my car MOT’d.”
Fortunately for Jacqui, she claimed her prize before the six-month deadline.
When a lotto player wins, they have 180 days to collect their prize.
There are currently six winners who haven’t claimed their prizes and one player risks losing £1million if they don’t contact Camelot today.
Fortunately, the mum-of-one saw the prize-winning message before the deadline and struggled to stay calm after receiving the life-changing news.
“I was at work one morning, getting ready for the day ahead, when I remembered to log into my account to see what the win was,” she said.
Once Jacqui rang Camelot to verify the win she called her husband of 16 years to share the amazing news.
She added: ” I have to admit I went a little crazy in the corridor – leaping about and squealing – and then went back to my desk as calmly as possible, deciding I didn’t want to tell anyone until the money really was in my bank account.”
The charity boss planned on using the money to visit her sister in Dubai and also eyed up a new BMW for her husband and a Mini for herself.
She said: “I’ve always played the lottery hoping to win but also because I know first-hand how many charities in the UK benefit from lottery funding.
“Never did I dream this would happen but now it has, I fully intend to live the dream.
“I’ve no plans to give up work yet, although I do recognise that this is an opportunity to think about other career options.”
It comes after a punter shared how she nearly missed £300,000 because of a silly Lotto app blunder.
And a delivery driver who scooped up £3.8million almost missed out on the life-changing cash after thinking the lotto email was a scam.