Double Check Your Lottery Tickets; Billions In Unclaimed Prizes Each Year
By Tim Jimenez
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The $564-million Powerball prize will be split among winners in North Carolina, Texas and Puerto Rico. But not all of the rest of the tickets are losers, and you could be throwing money away if you don't check.
Powerball officials say 34 tickets, including tickets sold in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, matched the five white balls, a prize worth at least $1 million.
One million-dollar winning ticket was sold in Glen Mills (Delaware County), Pa., but the identity of the buyer was not immediately revealed.
Unfortunately, Lady Luck was not on the side of most of us who headed back to work as usual on Thursday morning. That includes John from Northeast Philadelphia and his fellow sheet metal workers.
"We all combined our money on the job site," he said. "I think we had a 150 tickets and I think we won four dollars."
Just a little short of helping them retire early.
John said they always check their tickets before throwing them out. A wise thing to do. Believe it or not, lottery officials say each year, $2-billion in prize money is left unclaimed. That's because when people hear that they didn't hit the jackpot, they often neglect to check whether they won any smaller prizes. Many tickets are only worth a buck or two, but some are worth a seven figure payday.
The winning numbers in Wednesday's drawing were: 11, 13, 25, 39, 54 and the Powerball 19.
