A SILLY EuroMillions app mistake saw a couple brush off a £1million win as a meagre grand.
Ian Anderson, 77, and wife Marlyn, 70, scooped the windfall in “surreal” scenes that meant they had to call the Lotto line to make sure they weren’t being scammed.
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The pair from Stirling, Scotland, who have been married for 32 years, checked their account one day to find they had £4.90 on there.
Deciding to gamble to small amount, they bought a Lucky Dip ticket for the next EuroMillions draw.
Marlyn, who now takes care of Ian after he was diagnosed with pleural plaques and pulmonary fibrosis, always plays the Lottery but never believed what would happen next.
She said: “I just thought there is no point £4.90 just sitting in my account, I will buy a Lucky Dip ticket for the next draw.
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“It was the day after the draw that I logged on to my emails just to see if there was any news about my ticket and there was an email saying there was good news about my ticket.”
After initially looking at the email, Marlyn was so shocked that she had even won, she palmed it off as just £1,000.
But then it hit her.
She added: “I initially thought we had won £1,000 and I was absolutely delighted.
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“I then started to count the zeros – and couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing – so I counted them again!
“I just kept thinking it couldn’t be true and it must be a scam! I was desperately watching the clock tick to 8am when I could call The National Lottery number to confirm if what I was seeing really was true!
I didn’t see the point having £4.90 sat in my bank so bought a Lucky Dip and landed the jackpot – we no longer have to live our entire life in one room
“I couldn’t believe it when the person on the other end of the phone told me it was!
“I actually don’t think the news has fully sunk in yet! Neither Ian nor I can believe it.
“It still all seems very surreal! There is no other word to describe what we are going through right now!”
Ian, who is terminally ill, now wants to spend his winnings making sure his last days with Marlyn are extra special.
UK’s biggest lottery winners
By Ethan Singh
- Anonymous winner – £195,707,000
A UK ticket-holder scooped the record EuroMillions jackpot of £195 million on July 19 2022 – the biggest National Lottery win of all time.
The holder, who remains anonymous to this day, amassed the fortune with just one lucky ticket.
- Joe and Jess Thwaite – £184,262,899.10
Britain’s previous EuroMillions record holders were Joe and Jess Thwaite.
The couple won a record-breaking £184million jackpot in May 2022 and shared hopes of a Hawaiian holiday and a new horse box for their children’s ponies.
Joe bought his winning ticket online on May 10, 2022, and the following morning received an email with good news.
As he learnt of the huge win, he was in disbelief and initially kept it for himself as he did not want to disturb his wife, who was sleeping.
Joe, a communications sales engineer, and Jess, who runs a hairdressing salon with her sister, have been married for 11 years and have two children.
- Colin and Chris Weir, £161,653,000
Colin and Christine Weir landed the colossal prize money in 2011 and were Europe’s second-biggest winners until someone in Italy won a jackpot worth £193m in 2019.
They splashed the cash at an astounding rate of £100,000 a week before tragedy struck.
But at the time of Colin’s death in December 2019 his share of the prize money had dwindled by around £40m.
He spent the millions living a life of luxury, forking out for sports cars, property and the football club he supported.
Colin and Christine divorced shortly before his death after being married for 38 years.
He left money for their children Carly and Jamie.
- Adrian and Gillian Brayford – £148,600,000
Adrian and Gillian won 190 million euros in a EuroMillions draw in August 2012, which came to just over £148 million.
But Adrian split from Gillian the following year because of the stress of the win.
The couple bought a Grade II listed estate in Cambridgeshire, complete with cinema and billiards room, but it was sold in 2021.
After divorcing in 2013, he failed to woo ex-sausage factory worker Marta Jarosz — but fell for stable girl Sam Burbidge.
She left him in 2017, taking 30 prize horses Adrian bought.
It might have worked out in the end for Adrian though as the former postman was seen smiling with ambulance worker Tracey Biles last year.
- Frances and Patrick Connolly – £114,969,775
Former social worker and teacher Frances set up two charitable foundations after she and her husband hit the jackpot.
They scooped almost £115 million on New Year’s Day 2019.
She estimates that she has already given away £60 million to charitable causes, as well as friends and family.
- Richard and Debbie Nuttall – £61,000,000
The couple from Colne, Lancashire, took home £61 million on January 30 2024.
Both 54, they were enjoying a holiday in Fuerteventura, celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary.
But they then discovered the big EuroMillions win.
Richard revealed they originally thought they had won £2.60, but then received another email telling the pair to check their account.
Other eye-watering anonymous winners:
- 2019 – £123million
Another anonymous winner scooped up a prize of £123,458,008 in the June Superdraw rollover.
- 2021 – £122million
Following nine rollovers, one ticketholder bagged the £122,550,350 jackpot last April.
The successful participant chose to remain anonymous.
- 2018 – £121million
Another anonymous winner found their fortune during the Superdraw jackpot rollover in April 2018, securing £121,328,187.
The dad-of-two went from living life to the full to needing to be on round-the-clock oxygen.
The plan is to now splurge on a new car, a Citroen DS 7 Rivoli, and a new dream home which will help make their life better.
Big-hearted Marlyn previously worked as a carer for people with learning disabilities and dementia, but now cares full time for the love of her life.
Ian’s illness means he cannot use the stairs, and the couple spend day and night in their living room bedsit.
They say the EuroMillions cash will be spent on a spacious new bungalow to allow Ian to live the rest of his life in comfort.
Speaking of their plans for the future, Marlyn said: “This win couldn’t have come at a better time. It will ensure Ian can have the very best quality of life in the time he has left.
“As a result of Ian’s condition he is unable to get upstairs. His health is deteriorating, and he struggles to breathe so we currently have our living room set up like a bedsit. We have no other option.
“Buying a bungalow – and I think I have seen one already – will allow Ian to have his own bedroom and for us to have a sitting room too, all on one level.”
The lotto cash has given Ian peace of mind that when he passes away, his wife will be okay along with their two children, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
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Marlyn said: “This will be so special as it is something we haven’t been able to do for such a long time.
“He will be able to live the rest of his life in comfort.”
