Erik Bragg, a professional skateboarder in California, claimed he won the $1.58 billion Powerball jackpot, but many are doubting the boast he made with a big social media splash and some said the lucky ducat looked photoshopped.
The
Powerball website said three tickets sold in California, Florida, and Tennessee each matched the winning numbers drawn on Wednesday night, but no winners have officially come forward.
Bragg posted a photo on Instagram saying he was the owner of the winning ticket sold in California, said the
New York Daily News, which lottery officials there said was purchased in the Los Angeles suburb of Chino Hills.
Bragg's post rapidly gained attention, with more than 118,000 likes as of Friday morning. It also brought claims that the photo of his Powerball ticket was photoshopped, said the Daily News.
USA Today reported that shortly after Bragg's Instagram post, Twitter accounts with the handles @ErikBragg_lotto, @ThePowerballGuy, and @DudeDupeer stated that anyone who followed him and retweeted the accounts would get a cut of the lottery winnings.
California Lottery spokesman Russ Lopez told the
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin that the California Lottery has a security and law enforcement division that investigates every major claim.
"Most of those hoaxes don't even come to us," said Lopez. "They're just silly people trying to get attention. But what's happening is that this Powerball jackpot got so huge, and there's so much frenzy that people are just coming out of the woodwork. And I get that but it's unfortunate because we want this to be a positive experience for the true winner."
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