The winner of $759 million in 2017 became the center of an online scam shortly after her win.
The chances of winning a lottery jackpot are small, but for the biggest winners in the world, the payoff was tremendous.
In January 2016, three winners were lucky enough to split the pot for the biggest prize in history: a whopping $1.586 billion jackpot.
John and Lisa Robinson of Tennessee took home $529 million after splitting with the others.
"We do want to enjoy a little bit of our earnings and invest a little bit of it so our son and our daughter will have it," John told CBS News. "They will never need anything again."
In fact, the moment the Robinsons’ lives changed was caught on camera, when the store’s surveillance footage captured John buying the winning ticket.
Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt of Florida said they "lost a lot of sleep" after they became winners of the grand prize and Marvin and Mae Acosta of California kept their privacy for a while before revealing they bought their winning ticket at a local 7-Eleven.
The winner of a $759 million Powerball jackpot in August 2017 was Mavis Wanczyk, who bought her ticket at a Massachusetts gas station.
“I already called [work] and told them I will not be coming back,” Manczyk said as she announced her big win.
She also became the victim of a scam shortly after winning, as many fake social media accounts popped up bearing her name, and messaging people privately offering them a piece of her big win, authorities said.
In March 2012, the $656 million Mega Millions grand prize also had three winners.
Merle Butler, of Illinois, recalled the moment he became $218.6 million richer: “I turned to my wife, who was there with me. I says, ‘We won.’ And she looked at me funny, and I says, ‘No, we won.’ And she started giggling."
A winner from Kansas remained anonymous, and a trio of Maryland teachers, dubbed “The Three Amigos” was also winners of the big prize.
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