Rochester Hills man wins $1 million!

Drawing Date: 1/24/2017

February 21, 2017 - It took four phone calls from the Michigan Lottery before a Rochester Hills man answered and learned he’d won $1 million playing Mega Millions online.

Anthony Frabotta, 66, matched the five white balls drawn – 08-42-54-63-67 – in the Jan. 24 Mega Millions drawing to win a $1 million prize. He bought his ticket online at MichiganLottery.com.

“I missed a few calls from a Lansing-area phone number the day after I won. I usually don’t answer if I don’t recognize the number, but I thought somebody might need bail money so I answered,” Frabotta joked.

On the other end of the phone was a supervisor from the Lottery’s customer service center to confirm Frabotta had won a big prize.

“At first I thought I had goofed something up or done something wrong,” said Frabotta. “When the supervisor, Joe, said I won $1 million it got my attention. I looked at the speakerphone in my office and said: ‘Say that again please!’

“While I was listening to Joe, I opened my account and saw I had a $1 million pending prize. That’s when it hit me that I had really won.”

Frabotta visited Lottery headquarters Friday to claim the big prize. With his winnings, he plans to support children’s charities in Metro Detroit and retire a couple of years early.