Florida Man Gets Soul-Crushing News After Winning $10,000 Lottery Prize

A South Florida man who won thousands of dollars from a lottery scratch-off ticket got devastating news when he went to cash in his prize.

Joe Cheung told WPLG he won $10,000 from a Florida Lottery game. When he went to claim his earnings from the lottery's Miami Lakes office, they told him the state was keeping his prize. Why? According to officials, he owed them money.

Reporters learned Cheung had a debt balance of $7,800 with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. The mechanic said he received unemployment assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the state told him they overpaid him, leading to the debt.

For the last few months, Cheung has been trying to reach out to officials to figure this mess out.

“I called, I left six voicemails, no response, and then the next thing I call again, you hold for four hours and then the line gets cut off,” he said. "You can’t get a hold of nobody."

That's when WPLG stepped in and called the Department of Economic Opportunity about Cheung's dilemma. Days later, the dismayed mechanic got a call from state officials.

“They said there was an error and they said it would take four-to-six weeks to get the check back,” he explained. “She said it was an error.”

Officials told reporters they have overpayment procedures in place to combat fraud.

The winner, who said he's grateful to reporters for getting his money back, plans on using the prize on mortgage and car payments.

To read more about this shocking story, head over to WPLG's website.