A lucky college student has pocketed the top prize on a lottery scratchcard after deciding to give it a go when she saw her cousin buy one.
Lilian Gutierrez Silva from the city of Virginia Beach, Virginia State, USA, said the USD 500,000 (GBP 395,837) win followed despite the fact that she does not play scratcher games.
The young woman was reportedly at Malbon Brothers Corner Mart with her cousin when she saw her relative reach for a Funky Fortune ticket on Friday, 2nd June.
She then decided to give the game a try, and was shocked when her ticket ended up winning the game’s top prize.
Lilian said in a statement obtained by Newsflash from Virginia Lottery: “I never win! I showed the ticket to my cousin and said, ‘Tell me if I won or not’.”
At lottery headquarters this month, the student told officials she will use the money to cover her tuition fees.
Virginia Lottery officials said: “Funky Fortune is one of dozens of scratcher games offered by the Virginia Lottery.
“It features prizes ranging from USD 10 [GBP 7.9] up to that USD 500,000 [GBP 395,837] top prize.
“This is the first top prize claimed in the game, which means two more top prizes are unclaimed.
“The chances of winning the top prize are 1 in 1,224,000. The chances of winning any prize in this game are 1 in 4.12.
“All Virginia Lottery profits go to K-12 education in Virginia.
“Ms. Silva lives in Virginia Beach, which received nearly USD 34.9 million [GBP 27.6 million] in Lottery funds for K-12 education last fiscal year.
“In Fiscal Year 2023, the Lottery raised more than USD 867 million [GBP 686 million] for K-12 education, making up approximately 10 percent of Virginia’s total K-12 school budget.
