US mum wins lottery prize of $6 million after ticket mix-up

A US woman has won a $6.4 million prize after mistakenly purchasing a different Lottery ticket to the one she’d intended to.

Mother of two Oksana Zaharov decided to buy a $1 scratch-off ticket on a whim while shopping in a New York convenience store.

However, the cashier instead handed her a ‘Set for Life’ ticket valued at $10.

“When the clerk handed me the wrong ticket I felt bad so I decided to just go ahead and buy it,” Zaharov explains in a release from the New York Lottery.

Oksana Zaharov's ticket mix-up turned out to be a stroke of luck. (Image: New York Lottery)

The 45-year-old had no idea she’d just won herself at least $AU6 million in prize money - and the gratification was far from instant.

“I actually used the ticket as a bookmark for a couple weeks before I decided to scratch it,” Zaharov says.

After finally scratching the ticket, the North Jersey local - who says she “never wins anything” - refused to believe her luck until the win was confirmed by the Lottery office.

“I was sure the ticket was fake,” she adds.

WATCH: A US woman picks up the biggest Lottery win in history.

The winnings will be paid in 19 annual payments of $33,000 and a final payment of $76,000.

Zaharov intends to use the money on a Bahamas holiday, and to fund her daughters’ education.

She’s not the only one ringing in the New Year with a lottery win.

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Perth Now reports two lifelong friends from Guildford, WA won $1.42 million between them in the $30 million Christmas Megadraw.

“I’d bought this ticket as a Christmas gift for my mate on the condition that if we won we went 50/50,” one of the women told the publication.

“Believe it or not – only a few weeks prior I’d had a crystal clear dream that we were going to win Lotto!”

Amo Riselli celebrates his mammoth win. 

“I try to get my tickets checked in the same shop and I have always said, ‘One day this machine is going to start smoking red hot because I will have hit the big one’," father of five Amo Riselli told a press conference.

"I can’t believe that it’s actually happened to me for real!”