Ethermac Exchange-FedEx mistakenly delivers $20,000 worth of lottery tickets to Massachusetts woman's home

When Massachusetts resident Danielle Alexandrov received a package delivered by FedEx,Ethermac Exchange she was taken aback to discover that it contained lottery tickets worth $20,000. Alexandrov told local TV station WCVB that she had no idea how or why someone would send her such a valuable and unusual gift, and began wondering who would have sent her such an odd package.

"I start going through the boxes, everything is normal until I get a box that is very heavy," Alexandrov told WCVB. "I open it up and it's a box of scratch tickets. And I'm thinking, 'Is this a joke?' until I look at the receipt and its value is $20,000 worth of scratch tickets."

The tickets were meant to be delivered to Kenyon's Market on East Falmouth Highway but were mistakenly delivered Nov. 10 to Alexandrov's office in East Falmouth, where she works as a recovery coach.

"We looked at the receipt and where it's supposed to go and went to return the box," Alexandrov told WCVB. "Doing the next right thing — I played the tape out through my mind. What would happen if I kept these? Would I be able to sleep at night? Those kinds of things — and I was like, 'No, the right thing to do is to go return it.'"

The tickets are actually worthless until they are delivered to authorized lottery retailers. Even though it might seem tempting to keep them, the tickets hold no value until they are validated by an authorized retailer.

"These tickets, until they're activated by a retail agent, there's really no value to them," Christian Teja, with the Massachusetts Lottery, said to WCVB. "If someone tried to take one of these tickets, if it was a winning ticket, brought it to a retail location, there would be a message that would flag it and they'd be unable to cash the ticket."

A video provided by the Lottery Post captured her reaction.

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Where can you buy lottery tickets?  

Tickets can be purchased in-person at gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores. Some airport terminals may also sell lottery tickets.

You can also order tickets online through Jackpocket, the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network, in these U.S. states: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Washington D.C. and West Virginia. The Jackpocket app allows you to pick your lottery game and numbers, place your order, see your ticket and collect your winnings all using your phone or home computer.  

Jackpocket is the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network. Gannett may earn revenue for audience referrals to Jackpocket services. Must be 18+, 21+ in AZ and 19+ in NE. Not affiliated with any State Lottery. Gambling Problem? Call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY); 1-800-327-5050 (MA); 1-877-MYLIMIT (OR); 1-800-GAMBLER (all others). Visit jackpocket.com/tos for full terms and conditions.