Thousands of lottery players in Norway were left reeling last week after finding out that their dreams of winning big were simply a product of a technical glitch. Norsk Tipping, the state-owned operator overseeing the EuroJackpot lottery in Norway, has publicly apologized after mistakenly notifying players of “erroneous high prizes” due to a coding error.
“It’s heartbreaking for us to deliver this news,” said Tonje Sagstuen, the now-former chief executive of Norsk Tipping. She expressed deep regret over the incident that left several thousand players misled, as they had already begun envisioning vacations or significant purchases based on the false notifications. “We understand that this has created false hopes and a breach of trust with our players,” Sagstuen stated.
The unfortunate mishap stemmed from a manual error in converting prize amounts awarded in euros into Norwegian kroner. Instead of dividing the amounts by 100, the coding error inadvertently multiplied them, resulting in vastly inflated winnings being communicated to the participants.
The company announced that it had identified the error shortly after it occurred, but not before the damage was done. “This has resulted in considerable disappointment, and we sincerely apologize for the distress caused,” Norsk Tipping added.
The EuroJackpot, a Europewide lottery, offered a total prize fund of around $50 million for the draw in question. However, the precise number of customers affected and the amount they were wrongly informed would be theirs remains unreported by the company.
In light of the backlash from customers and government officials, Sylvia Brustad, the chairwoman of Norsk Tipping, acknowledged the severity of the breach of trust and pledged that the company would actively work to rectify its processes and better serve the public in the future. The company has faced heavy criticism and scrutiny as it seeks to regain the trust of lottery players in Norway.
