This one starts with the perfect timing of a HUGE lottery jackpot and an April 1st date!  Well, almost April 1st.  The stars haven’t quite aligned, but the day early prank (if it is this good) might just add to it by catching your victim a bit off guard.

First off, let me suggest that you act natural when you attempt to pull this off.  Do not go outside of your normal routine other than making your visible purchase and ticket placement. 

The Mega Millions Jackpot is now $540 Million and growing!  How would it feel to believe that you were a winner for just a few minutes?  A few seconds?  Great… and then gut wrenching.  I am going to go through the steps in an orderly way.  After the steps, I’ll outline the case of a friend partner who played this prank on his wife. It didn’t go too well for her, but it was the perfect prank.  It was even difficult to convince her that it was a prank.

You are going to convince someone that they just won one of the largest lottery jackpots ever!  Not only that, but they are going to do most of the work and convince themselves based upon your actions. When they do this, they will be so locked in that they won’t be easily convinced that they didn’t win.

The Prank

• Obviously this prank needs to take place on or around April 1st with a huge lottery Jackpot on the line. Big enough, that you will go out of your way to purchase a ticket even if you normally don’t.  Guess what?  It is a perfect storm.  It is nearly April Fools day and we have the largest Mega Millions Jackpost ever!   If the jackpot is large enough, it isn’t inconceivable that you will go out of your way to play.

1. Get out the night/day before with the person that you are pulling the prank on.  This drawing is on Friday. You could purchase the ticket (actually tickets) on the same day, but it might even be better if you purchase them a bit earlier. Don’t force it, but get out there with the victim and purchase the tickets.
2. Purchase 2 tickets and after you purchase them, hold on to them and make a joke about what you will do with your winning ticket.  They can do what they want with their winning ticket… Don’t go overboard. Make it your own.  For example: “I am buying an island with my winnings, you can do what you want with yours, but I am buying an island!  Mine is on the outside, so don’t get any bright ideas about stealing my winning ticket”.  The 2 ticket part is what locks them in to that being the winning ticket. They now believe that you folded up your 2 tickets and theirs is the one on the inside of the 2 folded tickets.
3. Wake up the morning after the drawing and get out and find the winning numbers.  Take those numbers and buy a ticket for the next drawing date.  Get back home and replace the inside ticket with the recently purchased “winning” numbers.  It might be difficult to be able to do the ticket swap, so you might need to leave the tickets somewhere like out in a car.  If you do that, leave them in the car when you return from your trip to the store to grab “milk” or “a coffee”.
4. If possible let time pass.  Let the other person make the discovery.  Be natural about things.  If they ask about the tickets let them know you still left them in the car and that you will grab them in a bit.  They won’t want to wait.
5. If they do go out and get the tickets, have them look at them while you read the numbers off to them from the paper or from you phone.  Act natural.
6. Don’t let this one hang in the air for too long. You will have a very disappointed significant other in front of you.

Now, I have to admit.  With cell phones and headlines stating that there was no winner, or the winner hails from elsewhere this prank might fall apart.  Fifteen years ago when my cruel friend played this one on his wife, there weren’t the same simple methods at our fingertips.