NC county takes man’s Mega Millions lotto winnings to pay someone else’s debt. Why the state can take your prize (and give no answers for weeks)

Winning the lottery is usually sold as a simple equation: match the numbers, cash the check and move on with your day. But for North Carolina resident Carl McCain, an $800 Mega Millions win came with an unexpected lesson in reading the fine print.

McCain, who mostly sticks to scratch-off tickets, bought a Mega Millions ticket for the November 4 drawing and matched four numbers, earning him an $800 payout.

“It was a four-time winner, so it was $800 that I won,” McCain told ABC 7 Chicago’s I-Team (1).

Because the prize exceeded the threshold for in-store claims, McCain traveled from his home in Timberlake to the North Carolina Education Lottery regional office in Raleigh to collect his winnings. There, after submitting his ticket and completing the required paperwork, he was given a notice citing the North Carolina State Lottery Act.

Under the law, lottery winnings after taxes can be redirected to pay outstanding debts owed to state or local agencies.

McCain says the notice caught him off guard.

“These two counties you owe money are Lenoir County and Wayne County,” he said. “I never been there before. I don’t know anybody there.”

Social Security number triggers a wrong match

Trying to get answers, McCain began calling the counties listed on the notice himself.

After sharing his name and date of birth, officials told him they couldn’t find any outstanding debt tied to him.

That changed once he provided his Social Security number.

According to McCain, county officials then told him the number appeared to be linked to someone else, another individual with a similar name whose debt was triggering the flag.

“Another man’s number name is hitting off your Social Security number,” he said he was told.

Situations like this aren’t unusual within lottery red tape. In fact, all 46 states that operate lotteries, along with Washington, D.C., require agencies to cross-check winners against government debt databases before issuing payouts. Those databases are commonly used to collect past-due child support and rely heavily on automated Social Security number matching (2).

While federal tax rules only require lottery winnings of $5,000 or more to be reported to the IRS and subject to mandatory federal withholding, states are allowed to intercept far smaller prizes under their own laws (3). That means even relatively modest winnings like McCain’s $800 can be flagged if a match appears in state or local systems.

McCain says he was given little detail and told the case was under review. After more than a month without answers, he decided to reach out to Diane Wilson, the ABC11 Troubleshooter known for helping viewers resolve consumer disputes.

He told Wilson he’d seen her help people recover refrigerators and washing machines and hoped she could help him get his $800 back, too.

Not-so-easy money

Once ABC11 troubleshooter Diane Wilson stepped in, the money trail finally started to make sense.

The North Carolina Education Lottery confirmed McCain’s winnings had been processed correctly and sent to Lenoir County. County officials said they’d been reviewing the case for more than a month, but shortly after Wilson’s inquiry, McCain was told his Social Security number had been removed from the county’s database.

Within days, he received a check for his winnings minus the required taxes. Lenoir County later said the debt linked to McCain’s Social Security number dated back more than a decade and may have been the result of mistaken identity.

If you find yourself buying a Mega Millions ticket and planning a post-win glow-up, that lottery money doesn’t always move as fast as the fantasy.

Winning isn’t always instant. According to the North Carolina Education Lottery, prizes of $600 or more must be claimed in person at a regional office and reviewed before payment is issued.
Claiming comes with conditions. Prize payments may be applied to outstanding debts owed to state or local government agencies, including child support or court-ordered payments, before winners receive the remaining balance (4).
Paperwork matters. The lottery requires a valid ID and complete claim forms before a prize can be paid. Incomplete paperwork or an invalid ID can slow the process.
Delays can (and will) happen. When a prize is flagged for review, payment may not be immediate (5). As McCain learned, resolving issues tied to identity or debt records can take time. Consumer watchdogs, legal professionals or even media can sometimes prompt action that weeks of unanswered calls can’t.

McCain eventually got his money and says he’s still taking his chances at the lottery.

Because even when the prize is small, the hardest part of winning is proving the luck is actually yours.

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Source: NC county takes man’s Mega Millions lotto winnings to pay someone else’s debt. Why the state can take your prize (and give no answers for weeks)