Latest news with #Sagstuen
The Hill
2 hours ago
- Business
- The Hill
Thousands in Norway erroneously told they'd won millions in lottery
(NewsNation) — Thousands of Norwegian lottery players thought they'd finally hit the jackpot and become millionaires, only to find out it was an error. A conversion error led 'several thousand' players in Norway to be notified that they'd won big. Prize amounts, originally in euro cents, were multiplied by 100 rather than divided by 100 when converted into Norwegian kroner, according to local media. Norsk Tipping, Norway's state-owned gambling company, called the calculation mistake and the ensuing chaos a 'manual error' in a statement one day later. 'Norsk Tipping sincerely apologizes to everyone who was notified of an incorrect prize amount,' the company said. Norsk Tipping added that 'incorrect prize amounts were removed from the website and app on Friday evening.' According to the company, no customers were able to cash in their incorrect prize, though some had already started planning what to do with their winnings. Norsk Tipping CEO Tonje Sagstuen apologized and stepped down from her role Saturday. 'I am terribly sorry that we have disappointed so many, and I understand that people are angry with us,' Sagstuen said in a statement.
Euronews
11 hours ago
- Business
- Euronews
Thousands wrongly told they had won huge sums in Norway lottery mix up
Norway's state-owned gambling company Norsk Tipping mistakenly told "several thousand people" they had won "excessively high" Eurojackpot prizes on Friday, due to "an error in the code that converts Eurocents to Norwegian kroner in the gaming system." In a press release, Norsk Tipping announced that it had removed the incorrect prize amounts from its website and app on Friday evening, adding that the correct prize overview was uploaded to its platforms on Saturday evening. According to Norsk Tipping, no incorrect pay-outs were made. After amassing sharp criticism from Norway's gambling regulator, as well as from customers who were left disappointed, the company responded by acknowledging that the criticism it faced was "justified." On Saturday, the company's CEO Tonje Sagstuen issued an apology and handed in her resignation. "I've received many messages from people who had managed to make plans for holidays, buying an apartment or redecorating before they realised that the amount was wrong. To them I can only say: I'm sorry! But I understand that it's little consolation," said Sagstuen, who became the company's CEO in September 2023, having worked there since 2014. Lottery CEO steps down Sagstuen handed in her resignation after an emergency meeting between Norsk Tipping's board and Norway's Ministry of Culture on Saturday morning. Sylvia Brustad, chair of Norsk Tipping's board announced that "the Board and Tonje [Sagstuen] have concluded that the most important thing now is to calm down the company and the important improvement processes that have been initiated." "That's why Tonje herself has chosen to step down from her role as CEO after many months of intense work pressure. It is a decision that a unanimous board supports her in," added Brustad. In a press release, Norsk Tipping said the company has faced a breadth of technical issues over the past year, for which "the root cause goes way back in time." While it stated that the prize amounts error was not a technical one, it announced that an investigation would be launched in order to determine how the incident occurred and in order "to prevent something similar from happening again."
Perth Now
20 hours ago
- Business
- Perth Now
Thousands in Norway fooled by major lottery error
Thousands of Norwegians were ecstatic to receive notifications from the country's state-owned lottery company telling them they had just become millionaires – only for them to later discover it was a mistake. 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.
Metro
a day ago
- Business
- Metro
Thousands of lottery players mistakenly told they won millions in major error
Thousands of Norwegians were wrongly told they'd bagged life-changing sums in the lottery when in fact they'd only won as little as £9 after a huge blunder by the country's gambling company. Scores of people who took part in Friday's Eurojackpot thought they had become millionaires after a conversion mistake by the Norwegian operator, Norsk Tipping. The company mistakenly multiplied by 100, instead of dividing by 100, when converting the prize amounts from Euros to Norwegian kroner. It meant over 400,000 people who matched two main numbers and one Euro number were calculated to have won 1,262,000 kroner (£91,000), when the prize was only worth about £9. On the night, 19,000 people received push notifications, and 13,000 received SMS messages all saying they had won millions, Norwegian news site VG reports. The correct prize winnings were updated on Saturday evening and no one was paid incorrectly, the gambling company said. Norsk Tipping's CEO Tonje Sagstuen also apologised and resigned a day later. One mum-of-three recalled dancing with joy and crying when she was told she won 980,000 (71,000) kroner as part of a syndicate. Her hopes of a new life were dashed 20 minutes later when she got a text saying she'd won just 97 kroner (£11). She told VG: 'It felt like the world's steepest roller coaster. 'In that quarter of an hour, I used up two million kroner in my head. I was supposed to pay off my mortgage. 'I managed to call my dad and my oldest children are on vacation, and I was about to tip them a few kroner and say, 'Have fun, buy something nice.' Fortunately, I never got around to it.' Norsk Tipping's board met with the Ministry of Culture on Saturday, with the CEO Sagstuen shortly after. More Trending In a statement she accepted the mess up was a 'breach of trust', adding: 'I am terribly sorry that we have disappointed so many, and I understand that people are angry with us.' Minister Lubna Jaffery slapped down the gambling company, saying 'such mistakes should not happen'. The Eurojackpot is an alternative to Euromillions played in Germany, Spain, Italy, Norway and a string of other European countries. To win the jackpot, which starts at a minimum 10 million euros (£8.5 million) you need to match five main numbers and two euro numbers. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: No one comes forward to claim £1,000,000 Euromillions prize MORE: EuroMillions urges players to check tickets after £1,000,000 jackpot unclaimed MORE: 'Just gorgeous': Your favourite European islands that aren't in Greece
