Woman Agrees To Pay For Wrong Lottery Ticket, Then Wins $5 Million

Ron Dicker
Updated

A woman who accidentally received the wrong lottery ticket from a cashier and decided to buy it anyway made the right move.

Oksana Zaharov, 46, from Edgewater, New Jersey, was shopping in Manhattan when she asked a clerk for a $1 New York Lottery scratch-off ticket. Instead, the man unwittingly handed her a $10 Set For Life ticket.

Zaharov noticed the mistake. “When the clerk handed me the wrong ticket I felt bad, so I decided to just go ahead and buy it,” the mother of two told the lottery in a press release. “I actually used the ticket as a bookmark for a couple weeks before I decided to scratch it.”

Now she can buy a whole lot of bookmarks. Zaharov won $5 million to be distributed over 20 years, plus annual net sums of $172,068 after that for the rest of her life.

Her stroke of luck went viral on Tuesday as news outlets learned of it.

“I never win anything,” she told the lottery. “I was sure the ticket was fake. It wasn’t until I brought it into the office that I knew it was for real.”

Zaharov hopes to take her family on a Bahamas vacation and plans to fund her children’s college education.

HuffPost reached out to her ― and we swear it wasn’t for a loan but rather to see if she wants to comment on her win.

Also on HuffPost

Dating a supermodel

Odds: 88,000 to 1 (<a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/top/542/7/Dating-a-supermodel-20-things-more-likely-to-happen-than-winning-the-Mega-Millions-lottery.html">Deseret News</a>)
Odds: 88,000 to 1 (Deseret News)

Becoming president

Odds: 10,000,000 to 1 (<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/03/30/15-things-more-likely-to-happen-than-winning-mega-millions.html">Daily Beast)</a>
Odds: 10,000,000 to 1 (Daily Beast)

Becoming a movie star

Odds: 1,505,000 to 1 (<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/03/30/15-things-more-likely-to-happen-than-winning-mega-millions.html">Daily Beast</a>)
Odds: 1,505,000 to 1 (Daily Beast)

Picking a perfect NCAA bracket

Odds: 13,460,000 to 1 (<a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/top/542/2/Picking-a-perfect-NCAA-bracket-20-things-more-likely-to-happen-than-winning-the-Mega-Millions.html">Deseret News</a>)
Odds: 13,460,000 to 1 (Deseret News)

Birthing identical quadruplets

Odds: 13,000,000 to 1 (<a href="http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/03/30/mega-millions-jackpot-10-crazy-things-more-likely-than-hitting-the-winning-numbers/">Time</a>)
Odds: 13,000,000 to 1 (Time)

Becoming an astronaut

Odds: 12,100,000 to 1 (<a href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/2012/03/29/13-things-more-likely-than-winning-the-mega-millions-jackpot/#4114-9">Seattlepi</a>)
Odds: 12,100,000 to 1 (Seattlepi)

Dying by a hornet

Odds: 6,100,000 to 1 (<a href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/2012/03/29/13-things-more-likely-than-winning-the-mega-millions-jackpot/#4114-9">Seattlepi</a>)
Odds: 6,100,000 to 1 (Seattlepi)

Dying from being left-handed

Odds: 4,400,000 to 1 (<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/03/30/15-things-more-likely-to-happen-than-winning-mega-millions.html">Daily Beast</a>)
Odds: 4,400,000 to 1 (Daily Beast)

Drowning in a bathtub

Odds: 840,000 to 1 (<a href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/2012/03/29/13-things-more-likely-than-winning-the-mega-millions-jackpot/#4114-9">Seattlepi</a>)
Odds: 840,000 to 1 (Seattlepi)

Getting a royal flush in a first hand of poker

Odds: 649,740 to 1 (<a href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/2012/03/29/13-things-more-likely-than-winning-the-mega-millions-jackpot/#4114-9">Seattlepi</a>)
Odds: 649,740 to 1 (Seattlepi)

Being murdered

Odds: 18,000 to 1 (<a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/top/542/8/Being-murdered-20-things-more-likely-to-happen-than-winning-the-Mega-Millions-lottery.html">Deseret News</a>)
Odds: 18,000 to 1 (Deseret News)

Dying in an asteroid apocalypse

Odds: 12,500 to 1 (<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/03/30/15-things-more-likely-to-happen-than-winning-mega-millions.html">Daily Beast</a>)
Odds: 12,500 to 1 (Daily Beast)

Finding a four leaf clover

Odds: 10,000 to 1 (<a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/top/542/12/Finding-a-four-leaf-clover-20-things-more-likely-to-happen-than-winning-the-Mega-Millions-lottery.html">Deseret News</a>)
Odds: 10,000 to 1 (Deseret News)

Losing an appendage to a chainsaw

Odds: 4,464 to 1 (<a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/top/542/19/Losing-an-appendage-to-a-chainsaw-20-things-more-likely-to-happen-than-winning-the-Mega-Millions.html">Deseret News</a>)
Odds: 4,464 to 1 (Deseret News)

Writing a New York Times bestseller (if you’re an author)

Odds: 220 to 1 (<a href="http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/03/30/mega-millions-jackpot-10-crazy-things-more-likely-than-hitting-the-winning-numbers/">Time</a>)
Odds: 220 to 1 (Time)

Woman's Friend Steals Winning Scratch-Off

A South Carolina woman's luck stopped short after she told a few friends about her winning $500 ticket. Willie Jones, a friend of the winner, was <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/19/south-carolina-stolen-lottery-ticket_n_1686630.html" target="_hplink">charged with stealing her ticket</a>.

Man Wins Lotto, Bails Himself Out Of Jail

After John Ross Jr. won a 'Set For Life' scratch off game, he was looking forward to turning his life around. However, Ross soon <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/12/john-ross-california-lott_n_1590089.html" target="_hplink">found himself behind bars</a> after he allegedly helped a woman hide and repair a stolen car.

Geniuses Outsmart Massachusetts Cash WinFall

A group including MIT undergraduates and a biomedical researcher <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/02/massachusetts-cash-winfall-lottery_n_1729416.html" target="_hplink">discovered a loophole in the Cash WinFall game</a> that netted them nearly $48 million. Apparently, lottery officials knew about the scam since at least 2010, but did nothing about it because it generated $16 million in revenue for the state.

Lotto Winner Found Million Dollar Ticket While Cleaning Out Desk

Retired hospice chaplain Ron Yurcus <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/15/ron-yurcus-glen-ellyn-lot_n_2139308.html">stumbled across a million-dollar miracle when he found a winning lottery ticket while cleaning out his desk</a> in November 2012. He had purchased the Powerball ticket from a BP gas station two months earlier.

Controversy Over Record Mega Millions Jackpot

After <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/06/mirlande-wilson-mega-millions-mcdonalds_n_1408105.html" target="_hplink">McDonald's employee Mirlande Wilson</a> falsely claimed she won Mega Millions' record $656 million jackpot, three <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/10/maryland-mega-millions-winner_n_1414857.html?ref=money#s785675&title=Undocumented_Immigrant_Awarded" target="_hplink">Maryland school teachers</a> stepped forward to claim their share of the prize.

New York Brothers Charged With Scamming $5 Million Lottery Ticket

Two brothers from central New York who <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/13/andy-and-nayel-ashkar-lottery-scam_n_2123886.html">claimed a $5 million lottery ticket sold at their family's store were accused in November 2012 of scamming the winning ticket from a customer.</a> Andy Ashkar, 34, and Nayel Ashkar, 36, are charged with second-degree attempted grand larceny and fourth-degree conspiracy.

Chicago Man Wins New Jersey Lottery While Cleaning Up After Hurricane Sandy

John Turner, a 38-year-old Chicago man, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/11/john-turner-wins-lottery-_n_2105194.html">bought a winning $100,000 lottery ticket </a>after coming to New Jersey to help clean up after Hurricane Sandy. Turner runs National Catastrophe Solutions of Chicago, a local water removal business.

Homeless Man Wins $200,000 Lottery Prize

A homeless man in Greenville, S.C. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/19/homeless-man-wins-lottery-greenville_n_1989771.html">won $200,000 from a scratch-off lottery game</a> in October 2012.

Teen Cancer Survivor Wins Mega Millions Lottery

Nicholas Ruth, a 19-year-old cancer survivor, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/26/nicholas-ruth-teen-cancer-survivor-mega-millions-lottery-video_n_1916132.html">matched five of the six numbers in the state's Mega Millions lottery</a>, earning himself a second-tier prize of $250,000 in September 2012. After taxes, Ruth will have about $165,000 to spend and plans to donate some of his money back to the organizations that helped him with his leukemia.

Friends Win Mega Millions Jackpot After Playing Together For 25 Years

Willie McPherson, 74, and Christopher Manzi, 44, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/06/mcpherson-manzi-mega-millions-lottery-25-years_n_1944181.html#slide=757174">won a $14 million jackpot in September 2012 </a>after playing the Mega Millions lottery together for 25 years, according to the New York Post. The two had been buying lottery tickets together after becoming friends while working at Manzi’s print shop in Manhattan.

Clerk Steals Winning Ticket From Great-Grandma

A store clerk in England tried to turn in 77-year-old Maureen Holt's winning lottery ticket himself after <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/02/lottery-ticket-stolen-from-great-grandmother_n_1733871.html" target="_hplink">telling her it was a losing ticket</a>.

Teen Finds Ticket In Messy Bedroom

Ryan Kitching, a Scottish teenager,<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/04/ryan-kitching-teenage-winning-lottery-tickert-clean-room_n_1319413.html" target="_hplink"> found a winning lottery ticket hiding in his bedroom</a> after his mother told him to clean his room. The ticket is worth more than $80,000.

Chicago Couple Keeping Millions Secret

One Chicago couple won <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-06/news/ct-met-anonymous-lottery-20111106_1_lottery-winners-illinois-lottery-lottery-jackpot" target="_hplink">$30 million in the Illinois lottery</a>, but didn't even tell their kids, according to the <em>Chicago Tribune</em>.

Connecticut Money Managers Win Big Jackpot

Greg Skidmore, Brandon Lacoff and Tim Davidson, who work at an asset management firm in Greenwich, one of the most affluent towns in America, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/29/254-million-jackpot-connecticut-money-managers_n_1119321.html">came forward as lottery winners in 2011</a>. Their lawyer said they formed a trust to manage the money after Davidson bought the $1 winning ticket at a Stamford gas station.

Lotto Winner Continued To Collect Food Stamps

Amanda Clayton, 24-year-old from the Detroit-area,<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/08/amanda-clayton-michigan-lottery-food-assistance-stamps_n_1330716.html" target="_blank"> continued collecting $200 in government food assistance</a> after she won a $1 million lotto prize.

Undocumented Immigrant Awarded Lotto Prize After Lawsuit

<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/09/jose-antonio-cua-toc-undocumented-immigrant-lottery-ticket_n_1334564.html" target="_hplink">Jose Antonio Cua-Toc, a foreign national from Guatemala,</a> sued his former boss to reclaim his lotto money, which he had given to his employer out of fear of being exposed as an undocumented immigrant. Cua-Toc won the lawsuit.

Iowa Lottery Winner Claims $16.5 Million Prize At Last Minute

The winner of an <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/30/iowa-lottery-winner-last-minute_n_1176971.html">Iowa Lottery ticket in 2011 </a>valued at $16.5 million waited until two hours before the deadline to claim the prize. The ticket was purchased nearly one year ago.

Winning $80K Lottery Ticket Donated To Burglarized Georgia Church

In 2011, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/03/winning-80k-lottery-ticke_n_947272.html">an anonymous donor stepped in to help a Georgia church that was burglarized with a winning $80,000</a> lottery ticket the Associated Press reports.

1. The Gift Of Learning

Perhaps one of the best things you can give is the gift of education, because it can last for generations. For $10,000 at a time, there are many charities that you can assist with funding schools in impoverished countries. For example, with a <a href="https://plancanada.ca/GiftsofHope/shopexd.asp?id=206" target="_hplink">Plan Canada</a> donation, you could help establish schools in Honduras. Or, if you’re looking for a more hands-on adventure travel experience, pack your hammer and head to Kenya to physically help build a school. Along with creating a place of learning for children who may never have had that experience, you can discover traditional Maasai culture. Oh, and never mind the elephant watching and beautiful sunsets you’ll encounter.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.