Billionaire Wanted: $1 Billion Powerball Jackpot Still Vacant After Woman Pretended to Be Winner

It is not so easy to fool lottery authorities, and even less so when the money at stake involves such astronomical amounts as the billion dollars that was won by a ticket sold in California last Wednesday, July 19.

Days ago, U.S. reporters' cameras captured the reaction of a woman who claimed to be the winner of the Powerball mega jackpot. The situation happened when the local media went to the store where the ticket had been sold, Las Palmitas Mini Market in downtown Los Angeles, to capture the moment of the celebration of the owners of the store, who received a prize of 1 million dollars for having been the sellers of the winning ticket.

While in the store, the cameras captured a woman who seemed overwhelmed with emotion, so much so that she could barely hold back tears or manage to answer reporters' questions. When someone asked her if she was the winner of the raffle, the woman answered yes and left the store overcome with emotion.

However, the owners of the store claim that they do not recognize the woman, and that she was not one of the people who went there to buy a ticket for the Powerball billionaire drawing, so they doubt that she is the real winner. Moreover, so far no one has claimed the prize.

"He didn't win, I don't know why he did it. I guess he just wanted to be on TV," said Sarai Palacios, granddaughter of the store owner and one of the workers at the counter where the tickets were sold. "We still don't know who the winner is. He hasn't come forward yet."

The meticulous procedure required to collect a Powerball prize

Collecting a Powerball prize is not as simple as showing up at the store and declaring that you are the winner. To confirm the veracity of the winner, lottery authorities require a rigorous procedure to be followed and take the verification of the veracity of the ticket very seriously.

In order to claim the $1.08 billion Powerball lottery prize, the person claiming the prize must submit a claim form available on the California Lottery website, including the original ticket to certify its authenticity. However, once the claim is received, the verification and processing of the prize can take up to 8 weeks, within which time an interview with the claimant is also conducted to corroborate all information. According to a California Lottery agent, "there are aspects of the ticket that are not disclosed to the public to help protect the integrity of the prize," which helps determine the veracity of the winner.

Deadline to claim the $1 billion Powerball prize

The deadlines for claiming a lottery prize vary widely. Even the same lottery may have different deadlines depending on where the ticket was purchased. For example, in the case of the United States, multi-state lotteries, such as Powerball, have different deadlines depending on the state in which the winning ticket was sold.

The 1,080 million dollars Powerball prize corresponded to a single ticket sold in the city of Los Angeles, California. According to the laws of this state, the standard deadline to collect a lottery prize is 180 days, although there is an exception for jackpots, such as the Powerball jackpot. In this case, the deadline to claim it increases to 1 year from the date of the drawing, so we can still wait much longer to know the identity of the real winner.

What happens if no one claims the Powerball prize after the deadline?

If, after the full year deadline, no one claims the prize, the person who purchased the ticket will have forfeited the right to collect it.

And while it may seem unbelievable that someone would overlook a lottery prize, the truth is that unclaimed prizes are more common than we think. According to some statistics, between 30% and 70% of lottery prizes go unclaimed, something that happens especially frequently in the United States. Why? For reasons often as simple as losing the ticket, forgetting to check the numbers, or not having participated at all.

In the event that no one collects the more than $1 billion Powerball prize, the funds collected by the state for the value of the first prize, which is 13% of the total, are awarded directly to the state lottery's primary beneficiary: the state's public education.