Thousands of lottery players were told they had won potentially life-changing sums of money―only to be informed later that extra zeros had mistakenly been added to their prizes.
Gamblers who had planned to buy new homes or splash out on lavish vacations were informed they had won only a fraction of the sum they had initially been told was about to hit their bank accounts.
One winner was informed he had won the equivalent of almost $125,000, only to discover later that it was closer to $12.50.
The incident happened in Norway on Friday after the state-owned lottery company Norsk Tipping made an error calculating the prizes, which had to be converted from euros into Norwegian kroner. None of the mistakenly inflated prizes were paid out.
Newsweek has contacted Norsk Tipping for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Norsk Tipping, which the Norwegian Ministry of Culture administers, texted some 47,000 customers on Monday to apologize for the incident. The firm has not disclosed exactly how many people were told incorrect prize details, saying only that “several thousand” players were affected. Minister of Culture Lubna Jaffery said the error was “totally unacceptable.”
The Norwegian Gambling Authority has launched an official review to assess whether any of the country’s gambling laws were broken. Norsk Tipping CEO Tonje Sagstuen apologized and resigned following the furor.
What To Know
The prize mistake occurred when the results were announced for the Eurojackpot game on Friday.
Norsk Tipping receives the prize amounts from Germany in euros and coverts them to Norwegian kroner. However, the winnings were converted to cents and then mistakenly multiplied by 100, instead of being divided by 100, the company said in a statement, blaming a “manual coding error.”
Ole Fredrik Sveen, a 53-year-old culinary school teacher, was among those who thought his life was about to change. While on holiday in Greece, he received a notification that he had won 1.25 million kroner (about $124,789), The Guardian reported. His joy lasted about 15 minutes before turning to suspicion as he looked online and saw many other big wins being reported. Sveen was right to be cautious because it turned out he had won 125 kroner (about $12.49).
“At first you’re ecstatic and happy about the message you got that says you won 1.2m kroner,” he told The Guardian. He added, “You could have been really unlucky and spent a large amount of money then found out it wasn’t true. But thankfully we kept our heads cool and realized it wasn’t meant to be this time.”
When asked what he planned to do with his more modest winnings, he replied: “You don’t get too much Champagne for that money. It’s more like a glass of prosecco or crémant than Champagne.”
This incident isn’t the first time lottery organizers have drawn the public’s ire.
In February 2024, John Cheeks sued Powerball over a $340 million prize after the American lottery listed his chosen numbers on its website as a winning combination. However, the company said the numbers had not been drawn but had accidentally appeared on the site as it was undergoing developmental testing.
In 2022, Powerball was mocked online after a technical problem prevented numbers from being drawn for a record-breaking $1.9 billion prize.
Other lottery players have been more fortunate. A Virginia man won $250,000 on a $2 bet in 2022 after dreaming that the unlikely number sequence 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 would come up. A man in Florida, meanwhile, credited his pregnant dachshund with his good luck after he won $2 million from a ticket he bought while taking a different route than usual because of his pet’s needs.
What People Are Saying
Vegar Strand, Norsk Tipping’s managing director, texted customers on Monday: “Thousands of Norwegians were mistakenly informed that they had won a large prize in the Eurojackpot. This was a mistake that affected many and which we take very seriously. We deeply regret what has happened, and on behalf of us at Norsk Tipping, I would like to apologize to everyone affected by this. We are incredibly sorry to have disappointed so many.”
Tonje Sagstuen, Norsk Tipping’s CEO, said: “I am terribly sorry that we have disappointed so many, and I understand that people are angry with us. I have received many messages from people who had managed to make plans for holidays, buying an apartment or renovating before they realized that the amount was wrong. To them I can only say: Sorry! But I understand that it is a small consolation.”
What Happens Next
Officials are reviewing the incident. Norsk Tipping will likely seek a permanent CEO following Sagstuen’s resignation.
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