A Queanbeyan man found out he had won by checking social media. Photo: The Lott.
Few people can say scrolling Facebook meant they took home more than $1 million. One Queanbeyan man can.
He purchased a Lotto ticket from Karabar Newsagency, where his lucky picks meant he was one of the seven division one winning entries from across Australia in Saturday Lotto draw 4595, drawn on Saturday (2 August).
Each division one winning entry pocketed $1,428,571.43.
As his entry wasn’t registered to The Lott Members Club, officials from The Lott had no way of contacting the ticketholder.
They just had to wait for him to check his ticket and come forward – and he did after seeing news of a mystery winner on social media.
“I’ve been blown away ever since I checked my ticket,” he said to an official from The Lott.
“I was scrolling through Facebook when I saw a post about a mystery Saturday Lotto winner in the area.
“I had a check of the winning numbers, and they all seemed to match my ticket.”
The winning numbers in Saturday Lotto draw 4595 were 24, 40, 42, 21, 45 and 1, while the supplementary numbers were 16 and 9.
The stunned winner said he’d barely slept since checking his winning ticket.
“I couldn’t believe it. I had to double-check the results and my ticket a few times.
“I had a pretty sleepless night after that. I was tossing and turning, not sure whether it was real or not.”
He said the first thing he would do with his $1.4 million prize would be pay off his mortgage.
“I’m also getting closer to retirement age, so it’ll help make things easy.
“There’s too many different things I could do. I’ll let the dust settle for now.”
His winning entry was purchased at Karabar Newsagency within Karabar Shopping Mall in Queanbeyan.
Karabar Newsagency manager Mara said she was over the moon to have sold a division one winning ticket.
“That’s amazing! Just great news to start our week,” she said.
“I’m just over the moon to hear we’ve sold a division one winning ticket, and I’m glad it’s a local who has won.
“It’s an absolute privilege to be of service to our local community and I can’t contain my excitement.”
Across Australia, there were seven division one winning entries in Saturday Lotto draw 4595 – two each in NSW and Western Australia, and one each in Queensland, Victoria, and Tasmania.
“Selling a division one winning ticket makes the experience real for us and our customers. It’s going to spark excitement and hope in our town,” said Mara.
“We wish our winner happiness and enjoyment with their prize!”
The Lott’s division one winning tally has now reached 258 so far in 2025, including 68 won by NSW Lotteries customers.
