A simple wedding gift brought extraordinary luck to a young Indian expat in Dubai, who won Dh1 million at the Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) grand draw.

Sweety, who works as a customer relations manager at a jewellery shop, won the jackpot on the back of a gold bangle gift that her fiancé gave her, even though she entered the wrong phone number in her entry.

"We have been preparing for our wedding and as part of it, my fiancé Abhin bought me a bangle from Siroya Jewellers, where I work," she told Khaleej Times. "I was not going to enter the raffle draw, but my coworkers urged me, and I scanned the QR code to do it. While entering my details, I noted the wrong mobile number. I realised the mistake as I was submitting, but there was no way to fix it. So I just let it go."

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When she received a call last week informing her about the windfall, she didn't believe it. "Right before that call, I had received a scam call purportedly from a bank, and they asked me to log in using UAE Pass," she said.

"So obviously I didn't believe it. Then, they said that I had entered the wrong number and they retrieved my details from the bill. My manager also got a call from the DSS office, and that's when we started wondering if this might actually be true."

The lucky draw was held at Mercato Mall in Dubai on Sunday, August 31- the last day of the 65-day DSS extravaganza. During this period Dubai residents enjoyed cash prizes, massive discounts and other rewards. At the event, 70-year-old Pakistani national Dr. Raj Kumar walked away with a brand new Nissan Patrol, while five others won Dh200,000 each in scholarships.

After receiving the prize during grand ceremony, Sweety said, 'I am speechless'. Listen to her speak while accepting the prize:

Sweety and Abhin, who have been engaged for almost a year, said that they had no plans to visit Dubai. "My extended family has been asking me to move to Dubai for more than three years," said Abhin, who accompanied Sweety to collect the grand prize. "Sweety's sister was also here but we were not very keen. However, when both families insisted, we decided to give it a shot."

Abhin found a job in Abu Dhabi while Sweety found a role as customer relation manager. "We had no idea that Dubai had kept in store such a big gift for us," said Sweety. "We don't know what to do with the money yet. We will continue in our jobs. Abhin's house renovations were ongoing in preparation for our wedding next year. So we will use some money for that and our wedding. We don't know yet what to do with the rest of it."

Abhin added that it wasn't until he arrived in Mercato that he fully believed that they had actually won. "All we can say is thank you, Dubai," he said.

Meanwhile, it was a lucky visit to Dubai that won Dr Raj Kumar a brand new Nissan Patrol during the draw. He was visiting his sons in Dubai in July when he bought bangles for his wife. The purchase gave him a raffle ticket.

"I put my father's name on the ticket and forgot about it," said Dr Parkash Kumar. After the purchase, Dr Raj and his wife returned to Pakistan.

"When I got a call from the DSS officials last week, I thought that it was a scam," said Dr. Parkash. "I had a patient at the time and said I'd call back." Later, when he realised it was a legitimate call, he booked a ticket for his father to come back to Dubai and claim the prize.

Dr Raj arrived two days ago to collect the gift.  "First time in my life I have won something," he said. "My son has been in the UAE for 13 years, and he has also never won anything. I am so excited. I will gift the vehicle to my son, and tonight we will all go out to celebrate. I will return to Pakistan on September 5. A lot of my patients are waiting for me there. I just came to collect this grand prize."

Photo: Shihab