Lottery players celebrate 'winning jackpot' – then get a rude awakening

The lottery operator had got its sums wrong (Image: Feifei Cui-Paoluzzo via Getty Images)

Thousands of lottery players were sent into a frenzy, thinking they had hit the jackpot, only to have their dreams dashed when Norwegian lottery operators Norsk Tipping revealed a blunder due to a mathematical mishap following Friday's Eurojackpot draw.

The company conceded that "several thousand customers were notified of incorrectly high prizes" after a conversion error from Euros to Norwegian Kroner occurred.

A spokesperson for Norsk Tipping confessed: "It is during this conversion that a manual error was made in the code that is entered into our game engine. The amount was multiplied by 100, instead of being divided by 100."

While one Euro stands at roughly 85p and one Krone equates to just over 10p, the lottery firm assured that the mistake was swiftly identified, preventing any erroneous payments.

Nonetheless, jubilant players had already begun planning how to spend their supposed fortunes, with Lise Naustdal, who believed she had won 1.9 million krone (around £87,000), commenting "It was a very fun minute."

Thousands were mistakenly told they had scooped a massive jackpot (Image: AMANDA PEDERSEN GISKE, NTB/AFP via Getty Images)

The faulty prize alerts were issued on Friday, June 27, but it wasn't until Monday, a full three days later, that around 47,000 individuals received a text message apologising for the gaffe.

In a shamefaced message, Norsk Tipping's managing director Vegar Strand stated: "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."

He added: "We deeply regret what has happened, and on behalf of us at Norsk Tipping, I would like to apologise to everyone affected by this. We are incredibly sorry to have disappointed so many."

Norsk Tipping has exclusive rights to the lottery in Norway (Image: TERJE BENDIKSBY, NTB/AFP via Getty Images)

Ole Fredrik Sveen, 53, one of the recipients of the misleading text while holidaying in Greece, relayed his initial joy to The Guardian: "At first you're ecstatic and happy about the message you got, that says you won 1.2m kroner."

He further reflected: "You could have been really unlucky and spent a large amount of money then found out it wasn't true," but he noted: "But thankfully we kept our heads cool and realised it wasn't meant to be this time either."

Following the fiasco, Tonje Sagstuen, chief executive of Norsk Tipping, extended her apologies to the players let down, conceding: "To them I can only say, sorry. But I understand that it is a small consolation."

The Norwegian lottery has suffered several errors in recent months (Image: Getty)

In the wake of the incident, she has decided to resign from her position after a two-year tenure.

The firm has come under intense scrutiny in recent months following the discovery of several "serious" technical glitches within its IT systems. Furthermore, it has reportedly encountered numerous technical issues over the past year.

Lubna Jafery, Norway's culture minister, expressed her disappointment to Danish broadcaster NRK, stating that "such mistakes should not happen," and added: "We expect the board to work actively to improve the control routines."