Photo is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]
Photo is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]

A lottery player who went to a store to exchange what she thought was a 5,000-won winning ticket was stunned to learn from the shop owner that she had actually won the top prize of 500 million won ($328,000).

According to lottery operator Dong-haeng Lottery, a first-prize winner was recently confirmed from a Speetto 1000 ticket — the 107th showing — sold at a lottery shop in Dalseong-gun, Daegu.

The winner, identified only as A, said in an interview that she had been spending a lot of time at home recently due to poor health. "I would occasionally go for a walk as a form of exercise and stop by a lottery shop to buy Speetto tickets," she said. "That day, I had a good feeling for some reason, so I bought five Speetto 1000 tickets."

Right after purchasing the tickets, A checked for winning numbers at the shop and noticed that one ticket matched the lucky number. But she said she only saw the "5" in the prize amount and mistakenly assumed she had won 5,000 won, so she asked the shop owner to exchange it.

The ticket, however, showed not 5,000 won but the first-prize amount of 500 million won.

"The shop owner was surprised and told me it wasn't 5,000 won — I had won first prize," A recalled. "It was such incredible luck that I couldn't believe it at first. My heart wouldn't settle down, and I couldn't sleep properly for several days."

She added that when she shared the news with her family, everyone celebrated together. "I'm just grateful — the prize money will be a great help going forward," she said.

A said she has consistently bought lottery tickets and purchases Speetto 1000 every week. She plans to use the winnings to pay off a loan.

Speetto 1000 is a scratch-off lottery ticket in which players win the listed prize if the lucky number on the ticket matches any one of six numbers. Each ticket costs 1,000 won, and the top prize is 500 million won.


choigo@heraldcorp.com