Cinnamon Nicole of Cordova, Tenn., had tried to raise a bunch of money — how much was not disclosed — after she was not among the three winners selected to split the giant jackpot.
But the site, GoFundMe.com of San Diego, shut down her fundraising page after determining that such a project violated the rules of the site, which bills itself as a “personal online fundraising” site.
The site did not explain its decision further, according to the San Antonio Express-News newspaper.
Nicole said on her fundraising page that she and her family had spent their savings on Powerball tickets with the expectation of winning but, when they did not, needed more money to try again.
“Please help me and my family as we have exhausted all of our funds,” the page read, the newspaper said.
“We spent all of our money on lottery tickets (expecting to win the 1.5 billion) and are now in dire need of cash,” the message continued. “With your small donation of at least $1.00, a like and one share, I’m certain that we will be able to pick ourselves up from the trenches of this lost and spend another fortune trying to hit it big again!”
Later, Nicole indicated on her Facebook page that the entire effort — which did raise around $800 — might have been meant as a joke but that the Facebook site was not amused either and is now reviewing her membership status.
“Fbf I can’t even like/share anymore… My page is under review,” she wrote.
All pledges are being refunded, GoFundMe said.
U.S. residents in California, Florida and Tennessee did purchase winning Powerball tickets and are expected to split the record prize.
Residents of 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are eligible to compete for the Powerball prize.
The next drawing in the multistate lottery is Wednesday, and the grand prize is expected to be around $60 million.
