Norwegian lottery bosses have sent a text message apologising to tens of thousands of disappointed players who were accidentally told they had won large sums of money.
Norsk Tipping, the state-owned gambling operator, had previously admitted “several thousand” people had mistakenly been told on Friday they had won life-changing sums of money after an error in converting the sum from euros to Norwegian kroner, but it was not until Monday, three days later, that a text message was sent to 47,000 people apologising for the error.
“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,” wrote Norsk Tipping’s managing director, Vegar Strand, in the text message.
“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.”
Among those who received the text message was Ole Fredrik Sveen, 53, who received a notification informing him that he had won 1.2m NOK (£86,650) while he was on holiday in Greece. It later turned out that he had won a modest 125 NOK (£9).
“At first you’re ecstatic and happy about the message you got, that says you won 1.2m NOK,” he said. But the elation of the culinary school teacher from near Oslo was short-lived. After 15 minutes he grew suspicious and started checking Norwegian news sites only to discover that many people had similarly been told they had won big sums of money.
“You could have been really unlucky and spent a large amount of money then found out it wasn’t true,” he said. “But thankfully we kept our heads cool and realised it wasn’t meant to be this time either.”
Sveen said he had put the disappointment behind him and, while 125 NOK would not get him very much, he would be celebrating the win anyway. “You don’t get too much champagne for that money. It’s more like a glass of prosecco or crémant than champagne,” he said.
Norsk Tipping has been strongly criticised for the mistake both by players and authorities. Sveen said he had lost confidence in the lottery and would think twice about playing in future.
Norway’s lottery authority said it had launched a review to see whether any gambling laws had been broken and the country’s culture minister, Lubna Jaffery, said the error was “totally unacceptable”.
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Norsk Tipping and the culture ministry have been contacted for comment.
Strand said in his text message to players that the company was “working intensively” to make sure that such a mistake does not happen again. Norsk Tipping’s chief executive had over the weekend announced she would step down.