A LOTTERY winner had to fight for her prize after being told it would immediately be taken away due to a mistake made by the state.

Precious Tanksley from Orlando, Florida, was overjoyed to learn that she had won $830 on a Pick 5 game last month.

Precious Tanksley’s joy at winning the lottery quickly turned to shock when she was told she would not see a cent of the moneyCredit: News 6

Despite winning $830, Tanksley was told that due to state overpayments of unemployment benefits during the pandemic, she owed them moneyCredit: News 6

However, her happiness was short-lived after being told that she would not see a cent of the prize money.

When Tanksley went to claim her money, she was told that as she owed the state money due to an overpayment, so the prize would go toward paying off this debt instead.

“I could not walk away. I was stumbling away from the window because I was in shock,” she told local CBS affiliate WKMG earlier this month.

“What do you mean I owe you money? I don’t owe you anything, especially from the [Department of Economic Opportunity].”

During the pandemic, Tanksley received unemployment benefits, which she continued collecting after finding a job.

The state overpaid her by more than $11,000 that had gone into her unemployment account last year.

Once she started work, Tanksley says that she stopped checking it and so failed to notice the mistake.

“I didn’t know anything, I didn’t even know about a waiver,” she told the news outlet.

While helping Tanksley get her winnings back, the WKMG team discovered that a waiver had been issued last year regarding the overpayment.

A notice of approval was sent in February 2023 stating that the “overpayment…is waived.”

“The evidence furnished meets the requirements of the law that the overpayment … was received without fault and recover would be against equity and good conscience,” the letter stated.

However, this was ignored when Tanksley was told by a Florida Commerce employee that she would have to pay back all of her prize money.

Then, once the waiver was confirmed, she was told to wait four to six weeks to see her money.

It took the WKMG team to step in once more for Tanksley to get her money within a week.

“It feels amazing,” she said as she praised the team’s “instant results.”

However, Tanksley added that the state could have prevented the mess following her win by telling her to regularly check her unemployment account.

“No one knows to do that,” she said.

“So you’re going to win, you’re going to get [to the lottery office] and then they’re going to take your money, and wait the four to six weeks if you don’t have help.”

The U.S. Sun previously reported on a similar story of Bob Calamatia who was told he could not collect his $600 lottery winnings because he owed the state $3,000.

Again, this was linked to unemployment benefits paid during the pandemic but Calamita was adamant saying, “If I owed money, I would have paid it.”

The U.S. Sun has reached out to the Florida Lottery and the Florida Department of Commerce for comment.

The Florida Lottery issued the following statement in response to our inquiries:

“The Florida Lottery properly withholds money from lottery winners who have unpaid state-owed debts, such as overpayments for reemployment assistance, in accordance with Section 24.115(4) of the Florida Statutes.

“State and federal Reemployment Assistance overpayments occur when claimants receive benefits, they were not eligible to receive due to a variety of factors.

“When the Florida Department of Commerce determines that an overpayment has occurred on a reemployment assistance claim, claimants are notified based on their preferred correspondence method.

“From there, claimants have the options to request an overpayment waiver, appeal, or repay an overpayment.

“To prevent the possibility of their lottery winnings being withheld, claimants are strongly advised to keep a close eye on their accounts, ensure their preferred contact information is up-to-date, and promptly respond to any alerts related to their claim(s).”

Readers were also urged by the lottery to visit the Florida Overpayments page.

Tanksley requested the help of the WKMG news team who discovered that the overpayment had been waived last year meaning she could take home her winningsCredit: News 6

Residents are advised to regularly check their state unemployment accounts even when back in work to avoid such shocks in the event of a lottery winCredit: Getty