Michigan man thought $257,631 lottery prize was scam

Aug. 15 (UPI) -- A Michigan man delayed collecting his $257,631 lottery jackpot for six months for one simple reason: he thought it was a scam.

The 41-year-old Arenac County man told Michigan Lottery officials he didn't realize he was gaining entries to the BIG CA$H Second Chance Jackpot by playing eligible games at MichiganLottery.com, so he was suspicious when he received an email about a $257,631 prize in the Feb. 14 drawing.

"I saw an email back in February informing me that I won a $257,631 second chance prize, but I figured it was just a scam and I deleted the email," the player said. "In addition to the email, I received several calls about the prize over the last few months, but I still thought it was a scam. Recently, I decided to look into it, and when I found out it was a real prize, I was floored!"

The man said it took until he was collecting his prize to fully believe it.

"Now that I'm at the lottery office, it's finally starting to sink in that this is real. This prize is going to be life-changing," he said.

The winner said his prize money will go toward buying a new home and a new car.