A Mekong Delta man has become an overnight dollar millionaire after winning Sunday’s lottery jackpot, with the lottery company benefiting from the hype surrounding the news.

Vietnam Computerized Lottery Company, or Vietlott, on Tuesday afternoon handed over VND83 billion (US$3.71 million) in prize money to the jackpot winner of its lottery game ‘Mega 6/45’ at an award ceremony held in its headquarter in Ho Chi Minh City.

The sum includes a ten percent tax deduction from the original jackpot of over VND92 billion ($4.11).

Vietlott Deputy Director General Nguyen Thanh Dam confirmed that the winner is Nguyen Quoc Thai, a resident of the Mekong Delta Province of Tra Vinh who arrived at Vietlott’s headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday to claim his prize.

Thai appeared at the event wearing a mask to hide his identity despite previous media coverage having published his uncensored photos.

“He is so overwhelmed by the enormous amount of prize money that all he can say is that he’s overjoyed by the news,” Dam said, saying the sum would be transfered to the winner's bank account in a single bulk amount instead of being paid in cash over security concerns.

Win-win situation

Though refusing to disclose the total number of Mega 6/45 lottery tickets sold by the company since it debuted in July, Dam said Vietlott sales had amounted to VND159 billion ($7.1 million) as of September 30, with most profit coming from the Ho Chi Minh City market.

With a payout-to-profit rate of 55 percent, Vietlott is taxed on the remaining 45 percent of its profit, which is also used to pay for operating costs and commissions for its agents.

That being said, a bigger jackpot attracts more ticket sales, which in turn increases the company’s profit.

According to Dam, the chance of hitting a Mega 6/45 jackpot is one in 8.1 millions, which is still much more likely than the U.S. lottery, which stands at one in 292 million.

Dam denied the possibility of lottery results being tampered with, since the draws are broadcast live on television and overseen by representatives from various government ministries, with footage of the draws kept in storage for up to 90 days.

Meanwhile, sales of lottery tickets appear to have slowed since news of the jackpot win made headlines on Sunday.

Data from Vietlott agents in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday revealed a drastic drop in the number of buyers compared to previous weeks, with some agents recording a 50 percent decrease in sales, local newswire VnExpress reported on Tuesday.

“Disappointment and regret are common feelings amongst lottery ticket buyers, given they have missed out on a record jackpot prize. Thus, even though 12 billion is not a small sum, many wait until the prize accumulates again to invest,” My Dung, who runs a Mega 6/45 lottery agency in Ho Chi Minh City, was quoted by VnExpress as saying.

All money contributed to the local administration budget by lottery companies is used to invest in medical and education facilities, a senior official at Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance said.

The official added that lottery industry profits in Vietnam had increased by ten percent over the past three years, totaling around VND66 trillion ($3 billion) and contributing over VND22 trillion ($1 billion) to local budgets in 2015.

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