A Man Won $4 Million In The Lottery & He Got The Numbers From A Fortune Cookie

A fortune cookie quite literally delivered a fortune for one lucky North Carolina man.

Retired veteran Gabriel Fierro, 60, used the numbers he got in a fortune cookie on a Mega Millions ticket and ended up winning $4 million!

According to a news release by the North Carolina Education Lottery, Fierro got the fortune cookie from Red Bowl, a restaurant he goes to with his wife at least once a week in Charlotte.

“I don’t usually play my fortune cookie numbers, but I tried them on a whim,” said Fierro.

Fierro purchased the ticket for $3 and added $1 to make it a Megaplier ticket, which would multiply any win.

The decision to add the $1 definitely worked to his benefit. When all five white balls matched on his ticket, he won $1 million, but that prize was quadrupled because of the 4x Megaplier.

He told the N.C. Education Lottery that when he received the email informing him that he had won the lottery, he “just stared at it dumbfounded.”

His wife was skeptical at first and “thought it was an April Fool’s joke or maybe a scam.”

However, when the reality of the matter settled in, the couple celebrated the win.

“We started running around the house,” Fierro said, “screaming like a bunch of banshees.”

Fierro’s win is the largest sum ever won in North Carolina’s Online Play history. It was also a happy result for the disabled vet, who previously spent 32 years in the U.S. Army.

He took home $2,840,401 after federal and state tax withholdings, and when asked how he planned to spend his money, he said: “We are going to buy some Champagne on the way home.”

Besides the Champagne, though, Fierro wants to be smart with his new fortune and plans to invest most of the money.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.