A pair of seemingly simple decisions has made a 26-year-old Torontonian $60 million richer after winning the Lotto 6/49 Gold Ball jackpot.
Bocheng Mei, Toronto’s newest millionaire, says it all started when he checked out the OLG website after seeing lottery winners featured in the news and on social media.
That first decision led him to create an OLG account, choose his numbers, add Encore, enroll in the “Never Miss a Draw” subscription, and set up automatic ticket purchases.
The second decision? Answering a phone call from an unknown number. Mei says he was initially skeptical, fearing it could be a scam. But the call turned out to be from OLG, informing him to check his OLG.ca account.
“I answered the call, and the person said they were from OLG,” Mei said.
“I started Googling them to see if they were legit, as I’ve had enough experience detecting scam calls. I knew they were really OLG representatives because they didn’t ask for any banking information. They just asked me to check my OLG.ca account.”
Mei says it was then that he discovered he was holding the $60 million winning ticket from the May 7 draw. Disbelief quickly set in.
“My hands and feet went numb,” he said.
The software industry employee says the realization felt like a dream, noting that he had an online work meeting to attend shortly after ending the phone call with OLG.
“Inside, my feelings were all over the place!”
Despite the shock, Mei managed to finish his work day, log off from his computer, and take time to process the new multi-million-dollar reality.
The first people Mei called were his parents.
“I tried to be very calm when I told them I’d won a big prize,” he said.
“When I told them the prize was $60 million, I reassured them they would never need to worry about money again. I told them they could retire and enjoy life. They were so shocked to hear the news.”
A week later, Mei decided to share the life-changing news with a small group of friends.
“They were so excited for me and started jumping for joy. I’m not a super expressive person, but they were acting exactly how I was feeling inside.”
Mei says he plans to use his winnings to pursue educational opportunities, buy a home in Toronto, and travel the world.
“I really want to experience the Aurora Borealis as well, which may involve trips to Finland and Iceland.”
But most importantly, Mei says his top priority is taking care of his parents.
“I can now change their lives along with my own. I can provide for them now and make so many things happen for all of us that were never possible before.”
