State agency seizes woman's Florida Lottery winnings in a 30-year mistake she calls unfair
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Bobbi Segel said she was hoping to use the $1,000 she won for an upcoming family trip she had already planned.
She also considered using the rest to help pay for repairs around her Kissimmee home that suffered some damage during Hurricane Irma.
"I couldn't get help from anybody to get it fixed," Segel said. "So, I need money,” she told WKMG ClickOrlando.
Bobbi Segel (right) talks to News 6 reporter Adrianna Iwasinski about her problem.
But when she went to collect her winning check from the Florida Lottery District Office in Orlando, she was denied the money and was told the state had intercepted all her winnings.
All because she reportedly owed more than $1,700 from almost 30 years ago.
When she took a closer look at the letter sent from the Florida Department of Children and Families, it was a mistake.
It turns out even though it was the state agency's mistake, Segel was on the hook for the $1,782 the state overpaid.
The state sent Segel a letter they claimed they sent her back in 1992, to a Tampa P.O. Box.
Segel said she never received the letter, but admits her family moved around Florida a lot.
Segel said she hopes that her personal story will serve as a warning to others.
"You will lose your money," said Segel. "They don't play!"
READ MORE: WKMG ClickOrlando
