H&R Block has found the winner of its Million Dollar Giveaway Contest, and just in the nick of time. The contest winner had until Friday, July 6, to claim the prize, and until last week the winner, who was skeptical as to the authenticity of the contest, had refused to accept the money.

The contest winner, a man from Sewell, New Jersey who has asked that his name not be disclosed, was finally convinced of the validity of the prize by a relative who saw an H&R Block company official make a plea on NBC's "Today Show" last Tuesday. The "Today Show" appearance was a last-ditch effort by H&R Block to contact the winner, after telephone messages and overnight mail packages had failed to bring the winner forward.

The winner, whose name still has not been disclosed publicly, was entered in the promotional contest when he used an H&R Block service to prepare his income tax return. All taxpayers who had their taxes prepared in an H&R Block office, who used the company's TaxCut software, or who filed their taxes online at the H&R Block Web site, were automatically entered in the contest.