National

Lottery player thinks she won $3,000 — then checks her Iowa prize again. ‘No way’

An Iowa woman thought she won $3,000 from a scratch-off ticket. When she looked at the lottery app to confirm, she realized the prize was much larger. 
An Iowa woman thought she won $3,000 from a scratch-off ticket. When she looked at the lottery app to confirm, she realized the prize was much larger.  Photo by Iowa Lottery

A lottery player said she is “still in shock” after taking home a prize much larger than she initially thought.

Samantha Faust thought she had won $3,000 after scratching off an Iowa lottery ticket. She decided to download the lottery app to confirm the winnings only to find a much bigger surprise, according to a news release from lottery officials.

The Dexter woman didn’t win $3,000 — she won $30,000.

“I was like, ‘No way!’ I checked it two or three times after that, too,” she told lottery officials when claiming her prize June 19.

Faust plans to buy a new car with her $30,000 Crossword game winnings.

“I’ve never won anything like this before in my life,” she told officials. “I think I’m still waiting for it to sink in.”

Dexter is about a 30-mile drive west of Des Moines.

Read Next
Read Next
Read Next

This story was originally published June 20, 2024 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Lottery player thinks she won $3,000 — then checks her Iowa prize again. ‘No way’."

Kate Linderman
mcclatchy-newsroom
Kate Linderman covers national news for McClatchy’s real-time team. She reports on politics and crime and courts news in the Midwest. Kate is a 2023 graduate of DePaul University and is based in Chicago.
Get unlimited digital access
#ReadLocal

Try 1 month for $1

CLAIM OFFER