Thousands in Norway fooled by major lottery error
The country's government-owned Norsk Tipping said a 'manual error' resulted in customers being wrongly informed on Friday that that they had won 'excessively high prizes'.
According to local news outlets, the company believes 'several thousand' people who won prizes in the Eurojackpot had been notified of incorrect amounts.
It declined to confirm the exact number of people impacted by the error. Norsk Tipping is the main lottery company in the country, and is owned by the Norwegian government. Credit: Supplied
The mistake stemmed from a conversion error when winnings in Euros, which the company receives from Germany, were converted to Norwegian kroner.
Norsk Tipping has said the prize totals were multiplied by 100 instead of divided by 100.
One woman in the middle of a renovation project told Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation that she received a notification she had won 1.2 million kroner ($182,000) but instead received only a small fraction of that sum.
Norsk Tipping chief executive Tonje Sagstuen released a statement on Saturday to address the company's blunder. Norsk Tipping CEO Tonje Sagstuen issued a statement on her company's error. Credit: Supplied
'I am terribly sorry that we have disappointed so many, and I understand that people are angry with us,' she said.
'I have received many messages from people who had managed to make plans for holidays, buying an apartment or renovating before they realised that the amount was wrong.
'To them I can only say sorry, but I understand that it is a small consolation,' she said, adding that the mistake was a 'breach of trust' for consumers.
On Sunday, the Norsk Tipping board held an emergency meeting with the Norwegian Government's Ministry of Culture, which ended with Ms Sagstuen stepping down from the company. The Norwegian government's Minister of Culture and Equality met with Norsk Tipping on Sunday and issued a statement on the mistake. Credit: Supplied
Norway's Minister of Culture and Equality Lubna Jaffery criticised the company after the meeting, saying that 'such mistakes should not happen'.
'We expect their board to work actively to improve the control routines,' she said.
Norsk Tipping is investigating the incident.
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