By: Charlotte Dong

Nobody has won the lottery since April 15, but the losing streak was broken on July 30, 2022. Someone from Illinois, Des Plaines, won the Mega Millions on Friday night with a whopping $1.337 billion.

The winning numbers were: 13, 36, 45, 57, and 67; For Mega Ball, it was: 14.

Mega Millions is a lottery coordinated by state lotteries played in 45 states. The player guesses five different numbers and another number called the Mega Ball.

The lead director of Mega Millions Consortium, Pat McDonald, expressed his elation for the winner: “We are thrilled to have witnessed one of the biggest jackpot wins in Mega Millions history.”

The winner’s identity is anonymous; his name is not revealed. Not even lottery officials are aware of the identity of the lucky winner.

“We won’t know whether it’s an individual or it’s a lottery pool until the winner comes forward to claim their prize,” said Danielle Frizzi-Babb from National Mega Millions.

The managing director from Advice & Planning at Wells Fargo’s Wealth & Investment Management shared tips for lottery winners and actions to ensure their maximum safety.

The winner should keep their identity a secret from everyone and keep a low profile so they don’t get bombarded with money requests and put themselves at risk of scammers.

Another thing the winner must do is to sign the ticket because if you don’t sign it, it’s technically not yours. The ownership of the ticket goes to whoever signs the ticket first.

You should also request legal action for battles over ownerships.

Take a picture of yourself with the lottery ticket as proof of ownership and keep it “somewhere safe.”

According to Pratik Patel (head of Family Wealth Strategies at BMO Family Office in Chicago), you should consider working with a financial planner to help make decisions regarding what you should do with your winnings.

Suppose you have any questions regarding the winnings–address those questions immediately.

Winning the lottery is everyone’s dream, but before spending that money, “figure out what you can afford,” especially if you consider buying something that requires you to pay fees constantly.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/07/30/1114699243/mega-millions-winner-ticket-numbers-jackpot#:~:text=The%20winning%20numbers%20were%3A%2013%2D36%2D45%2D57%2D67%2C%20Mega%20Ball%3A%2014.