An Indian expat based in Abu Dhabi, UAE won Dh1 million in a digital draw held by retail giant LuLu Group International as part of its ‘Mall Millionaire’ campaign, reports Khaleej Times.
Starting from April this year till the first week of August, shoppers who make a minimum purchase of Dh200 at any of the nine participating LuLu malls in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain get a coupon number to enter the grand draw and other weekly prizes. Going through this process, he won the jackpot.
Selvarani Deniel Joseph, an Indian mother of two children, won with one of her 80 coupons this week. However, she was away on a vacation to her native place of Tamil Nadu when the mall management tried to inform her about the windfall. And her phone wasn’t reachable.
“It was very dramatic. The coupons were registered with my wife’s mobile number,” Arulsekar Antonysamy, her husband, told Khaleej Times.
“When the organisers tried to call my wife, I think on Wednesday, her phone wasn’t reachable. In India, my wife had removed her UAE SIM card from her phone. Luckily, her WhatsApp was working. After failed attempts to reach her over the phone, the organisers tried to make a WhatsApp call and then sent a voice note. Luckily at that time, she was checking her WhatsApp. My wife reached out to me as I was in Abu Dhabi.”
The couple still suspected it to be fraudsters and were wary of sharing any personal details. But the organisers gave details about the campaign and broke the news about Selvarani winning Dh1 million.
“We got convinced and my wife shared my phone number, and here I am picking the winners’ prize. My wife is still in India. This is a God’s gift,” Antonysamy said.
The couple has been living in Abu Dhabi for 14 years and always prefer to shop at LuLu.
“We were in Abu Dhabi City’s TCA for six years. Al Wahda Mall has been our favourite. We later moved to Mussafah and now we shop at Mazyad Mall. We had nearly 80 coupons in this draw.”
The couple has two children with a son studying engineering in Tamil Nadu and a daughter in Grade 12 of a school in the city.
“I will use the winning amount for the studies of my children. I wish my daughter to do MBBS. We also wish to help the needy,” Antonysamy added.
The season 2 of ‘Mall Millionaire’, held after a gap of two years, is a concept by Line Investments
and Property — a shopping mall development and management division of LuLu Group International.
Apart from the mega prize, there were several weekly draws with a prize money of Dh25,000.
The campaign has been held in partnership with Retail Abu Dhabi, the retail platform of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT – Abu Dhabi).
“The success of the Mall Millionaire campaign is testimony to the post-pandemic recovery of the economy,” said V. Nandakumar, director of marketing and communications, Lulu Group.
Bdparatidin English/Lutful Hoque
