A North Carolina house cleaner bet $10 on an online lottery game and won the grand fortune, netting her a six-figure payday.
Chelsea Carter, a 40-year-old from Ocean Isle Beach, took a chance on the Monopoly Digital Instants game from the North Carolina Education Lottery and ended up taking home a giant check on her birthday.
“Today is my 40th birthday,” Carter said in a recent TikTok video posted by the NC Education Lottery. “This is the best birthday present ever.”
Carter became emotional when a check for $626,543 was handed to her, which she said was a “blessing.”
“I am just an everyday person. I clean houses for a living,” Carter said. “Everyday people can win something like this, and we did.”
According to the Monopoly Digital Instants game’s description, players have a one in 50,000,000 chance of winning the jackpot. The game’s current grand prize sits at more than $445,000.
The NC Education Lottery was established in 2005, and its net profits are allocated to education expenses in the state, ranging from academic pre-K programs to college scholarships. By 2016, the NC Education Lottery had made more than $4.6 billion in education funding.
Financial advisor Rob Wilson recently gave some tips on what to do if you are ever so lucky as to win a lotto jackpot.
Wilson, who spoke to CBS News Philadelphia before two lucky betters hit a $1.8 billion Powerball jackpot earlier this month, stressed winners who don’t have to identify themselves should protect their anonymity.
“The biggest thing that you should not do in this situation is go and start bragging about your win,” Wilson said. “I would tell your spouse, your accountant and your attorney, that’s it.”
North Carolina typically does not allow winners to remain anonymous.
Wilson also suggested hiring an attorney, if you don’t already have one, and working with at least two financial advisors.
“You never, ever want to sign a power of attorney to any of those advisors, which gives them an undue amount of authority over your winnings,” Wilson added.
