Multiple attempts to get ahold of winner within the span of one hour

By Kate Northrop

It took multiple attempts for the Australian Lottery to get ahold of a $50 million (US$35.35 million) Powerball jackpot winner, who had previously deleted a very-real email alerting him to the win.

An Australian man was none the wiser that he had actually won a $50 million Powerball jackpot since he had deleted the initial email informing him that he should claim the prize.

Thankfully, it didn't take too long for The Lott to finally get in touch with the anonymous winner. In fact, they managed to get ahold of him the same night the drawing took place, announcing the win all within a matter of mere hours of the draw occurring.

The Wyndham Vale resident was watching the Australian Football League game from his couch when the sequence of events kicked off. By the time the Powerball drawing took place on March 12, little did he know that his entry was the only division one winning ticket for the entire $50 million jackpot.

At around 8:30 p.m. Brisbane time, The Lott checked their results and made their first, unsuccessful attempt to contact the winner shortly after, The Lott Public Relations Coordinator Eliza Wregg explained to Lottery Post. As it turned out, the phone number associated with the winner's account was outdated.

Next, The Lott tried reaching out via email, but that didn't work either.

Third time's the charm, and it was the second email and third contact attempt that finally got the winner's attention.

 "Is it true?" he gasped when an official from The Lott relayed the news. "I actually saw your first email, and I didn't even open it. I assumed it was junk and deleted it, but then I received another email, and I thought, 'Maybe I'll check the app.'"

Within just a mere hour of finding the Victorian man, The Lott had published an announcement that the rightful jackpot winner had been confirmed.

"Unbelievable! Fifty million dollars! That's insane!" he exclaimed. "I'm in shock! I'm just sitting here watching the [game] with my son. When my wife gets home, have I got news for her! I think she won't believe me, but when I show her the ticket, she'll get the shakes and start crying."

The player's ticket for a 4-game Powerball entry cost $6.30 — and it was enough to win a multi-million-dollar prize. He purchased his ticket online using The Lott's mobile app.

"I only ever play the smallest entry," the winner explained. "You don't need a big entry to win."

The winning numbers in the 1556 Powerball drawing on Thursday, March 12, 2026 were 4, 5, 6, 9, 13, 14, and 18, with Powerball number 14. He said he'll normally use birthdays to pick his numbers, but he had a small win the other day and thought he'd select some random numbers for this draw in particular.

"I decided to choose number 14 for the Powerball number as it's my favorite football number," the winner added.

Suddenly coming into a $50 million fortune is a lot to grasp, and the potential life-altering implications have the winner's mind swimming with possibilities. Lottery winnings in Australia are tax-free, so he will pocket the entire prize.

"I'm just trying to comprehend this at the moment," he said right after finding out about his win. "I always used to say to my friends and family that if I won $50 million, I would dedicate myself to helping others. It's almost like I put it in the universe! I'd like to look at some kind of work that helps the community."

Additionally, he and his family have been renters for "such a long time," and he never thought that they would ever be able to buy their own home until now.

"We're not going to buy anything out of this world," he clarified. "We'll continue to be humble and buy a house in our suburb. We'll also look to buy each of our children a house of their own. We'll all be mortgage free!"

The drawing also produced over 1.3 million winners who won in other prize categories, racking up $32 million (US$22.7 million) in total combined non-jackpot winnings. That includes three division two winners who each won $295,715 (US$210,206).