Man misses email about $60 million lottery win in Canada

A 26-year-old Toronto man missed a very important email recently.

It was from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, informing him that he had won a massive prize.

But despite the missed message, he eventually learned about his win.

An OLG representative was able to reach Bocheng Mei and he claimed the $60 million gold ball jackpot from the May 7 Lotto 6/49 draw.

The OLG announced in a news release Monday that Mei won the jackpot with a ticket purchased on OLG.ca.

Mei had set up a “never miss a draw” subscription so that his Lotto 6/49 tickets would be bought automatically for each draw.

“I saw lottery winners in the news and on social media, so I decided to check out OLG.ca,” he said in the release.

He set up the subscription and “never had to think about it again — because I knew my tickets would be purchased automatically.”

When someone wins a prize through their tickets purchased on OLG.ca, they are sent an email.

But Mei hadn’t seen the email and also hadn’t checked his OLG.ca account.

He later got a phone call from an unknown number.

“I answered the call, and the person said they were from OLG,” Mei recalled.

“I started Googling them to see if they were legit, as I’ve had enough experience detecting scam calls. I knew they were really OLG representatives because they didn’t ask for any banking information. They just asked me to check my OLG.ca account.

“That’s when I discovered I had a winning ticket, and it said I’d won $60 million. My hands and feet went numb.”

The OLG representative then walked him through the next steps and Mei said he “tried to take it all in, but it all felt like a dream.”

“As soon as I got off the phone with OLG, I had to join a work meeting online and tried to play it cool. Inside, my feelings were all over the place,” he said.

When he logged off a the end of the workday, Mei tried to take in the fact that he was about to become a multi-millionaire.

He first called his parents to tell them what happened and tried to be calm on the phone.

“They wanted to make sure I wasn’t being tricked, but they know I’m always very cautious. When I told them the prize was $60 million, I reassured them they would never need to worry about money again,” he said.

“I told them they could retire and enjoy life. They were so shocked to hear the news.”

It took Mei around a week to let the news settle in and eventually he told a small group of friends, the release said.

Mei said they were “so excited” for him and “started jumping for joy.”

Among his plans for the winnings: buying a new home in Toronto, travelling, and learning.

“I love to learn, so I want to take advantage of various educational opportunities. I also want to explore different cultures, so that means plenty of travel,” he said.

“I really want to experience the Aurora Borealis as well, which may involve to trips to Finland and Iceland.”

At the top of his list, however, is taking care of his parents.

“I can now change their lives along with my own. I can provide for them now and make so many things happen for all of us that were never possible before.”