Lottery Company Blunder Sends False Winning Messages to Thousands in Norway

Oslo, Norway – A major error by Norway's state-owned lottery company, Norsk Tipping, left tens of thousands of hopeful gamblers heartbroken after they were mistakenly informed they had won large sums of money in last Friday's Eurojackpot draw.

Roughly 47,000 players received messages celebrating life-changing winnings, only to discover days later that the figures had been wildly inflated due to a technical miscalculation. According to the company, the error stemmed from a mistake in currency conversion — prize amounts in euro cents were multiplied by 100 instead of being correctly converted into Norwegian kroner.

Among those caught in the confusion was Ole Fredrik Sveen, who was vacationing in Greece when he received a message claiming he had won 1.2 million kroner (around $119,000). "I thought: ‘Wow, is it finally my turn?’" Sveen told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. “It said right there on their site: ‘Congratulations, you have won!’” In reality, his actual prize amounted to just 125 kroner (roughly $12).

Apologies were eventually sent out via text to all affected participants on Monday — a delay that only fueled public frustration. “The apology came too late. They should’ve acted right after it happened,” Sveen said.

The backlash has reached the highest levels of Norwegian government. The country's Lottery Authority has launched a formal investigation into whether any gambling regulations were breached. Meanwhile, Culture Minister Lubna Jaffery called the mistake "completely unacceptable" and stressed the importance of restoring public confidence.

The fallout has already claimed a top executive: Norsk Tipping’s CEO, Tonje Sagstuen, resigned over the weekend. Acting CEO Vegar Strand addressed the media on Monday, acknowledging the gravity of the mistake and pledging to restore trust.

“As a state-owned company, we’re fully aware of the responsibility we carry,” Strand said. “We have deeply disappointed our customers and will work relentlessly to rebuild that trust. This is our highest priority now.”

For now, those who thought they hit the jackpot are left with little more than a brief taste of victory — and a bitter afterthought.


By WafricNews Desk.