A Cowes man has received the ultimate birthday surprise from his sister after discovering the week-old present sitting in his mailbox turned out to be a top prize-winning Instant Scratch-Its ticket worth $100,000.
The Gippsland resident’s winning $5 Instant Scratch-Its ticket was purchased from Cowes Newsagency – Phillip Island, Shop 3, 68 - 80 Thompson Avenue, Cowes.
When an official from The Lott called to confirm the prize, the winning man confessed he was still trying to wrap his head around the enormity of his newfound treasure.
“I’m pretty great! I’m not sure if it’s quite sunk in yet. I’m still a bit numb!” he laughed.
“It was quite funny, when I scratched it, I realised I had a win and I thought, ‘Yay, I’ve probably won $5 or $10’. Then I scratched the prize amount, and I was gobsmacked!
“I thought it had to be some sort of fake ticket. I’m really glad it wasn’t!
“Amazingly, it was a present. My sister gifted me a few different Instant Scratch-Its tickets for my birthday. She sent them to me via mail, and they were sitting in my mailbox for probably a week before I got to them.
“I’m not sure how she feels! I told her, and I think she was even more shocked than me.”
When asked how he planned to use his newfound fortune, the winning man was too stunned to make any immediate decision but had a few ideas in mind.
“Honestly, I haven’t even thought about what I’ll do with it!” he said.
“I think I’ll buy a new phone, and I might take a few friends out for dinner to celebrate.”
Cowes Newsagency – Phillip Island owner Angela Banik said she was over the moon to hear her outlet had sold a top prize-winning ticket.
“We were thrilled to hear the news! Our whole team is so excited,” she said.
“We will be celebrating with the team and customers. Our customers have already congratulated us on the win. It creates talk about how people would spend the money and how great it is to hear of a win at our outlet.
“We last sold a division one winning ticket in August 2024. This is our second big prize, and it gives us goosebumps to think about how this will change a person's life.
“Congratulations to our winner. We’re excited to play a small part in your win. We hope it brings joy and happiness to you. All the best.
“Our team at Cowes Newsagency – Phillip Island have a love of our job and take pride in bringing great laughter and joy to our customers. On days like this, it’s a privilege to be a part of someone's life-changing win.”
In 2024, there were 142 Instant Scratch-Its top prize winners across The Lott’s jurisdictions who collectively took home more than $11.8 million in top prizes.
During this same time, Instant Scratch-Its players enjoyed more than 25.6 million wins across all prize tiers worth more than $251.4 million. This equates to almost half a million winners and more than $4.8 million won on Instant Scratch-Its each week.
Every month, Instant Scratch-Its’ 2nd Chance Draw gives you another chance to turn your eligible non-winning Instant Scratch-Its into a winner. Visit thelott.com to enter this month’s 2nd Chance Draw.
The official home of Australia’s lotteries, The Lott operates and markets Australia’s leading lottery games customers know and love creating everyday winners, winning every day.
In 2024, more than 195.3 million winners took home more than $4.84 billion in prize money from their favourite games at The Lott, including TattsLotto, Weekday Windfall, Powerball, Oz Lotto, Set for Life, Lucky Lotteries, Keno (SA), Super 66, Lotto Strike and Instant Scratch-Its.
Last financial year, Australia’s official lotteries contributed more than $1.8 billion via state lottery taxes and donations to help community initiatives, such as hospitals, health research, disaster relief and education. As part of its commitment to supporting the community, The Lott proudly supports Play For Purpose, the not-for-profit
