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Major error
A math error by Norway’s state lottery gambling operator has dashed the hopes of thousands of would-be millionaires and prompted the resignation of the lottery’s CEO.
According to reports, a calculation mistake by Norsk Tipping led to thousands of lottery entrants receiving notifications that they’d won big cash prizes.
several thousand customers notified of incorrectly high prizes”
Norway’s state lottery issued a statement Friday admitting “several thousand customers were notified of incorrectly high prizes.”
The Guardian reported that, as a result, Norsk Tipping CEO Tonje Sagstuen shouldered the blame and resigned Sunday.
Taking the fall
The debacle that led Sagstuen to quit a role she’d held since 2023, claiming it was her “responsibility to handle the mistakes that have occurred,” seems down to human error not being picked up.
The issue reportedly centers on Germany sending the Norway lottery prize monies in Euros, which then get converted into Norwegian kroner.
According to the red-faced Norsk Tipping, during the currency conversion, a manual error entered into the lottery game system multiplied the prize cash “by 100, instead of being divided by 100.”
Norsk Tipping didn’t catch the mistake, publishing the wrongly boosted sums on the lottery’s mobile app Friday, leading to a lot of misplaced celebrating.
It was a very fun minute.”
The Guardian cited a woman who thought she’d won 1.9m kroner ($188,186). “It was a very fun minute,” said Lise Naustdal.
Another case of a big let-down occurred to a couple who thought they’d won 1.2m kroner ($118,841) during a home renovation. Others reportedly considered booking holidays and buying cars before the lottery admitted its mistake.
Last straw
The major public-facing error has led to Norsk Tipping facing heavy criticism from the public, gaming regulators, and even the Norwegian Minister of Culture and Equality, Lubna Jaffery.
Sagstuen’s resignation came a day after Norsk Tipping held an emergency meeting with Jaffery.
The writing seemed to be on the wall for the CEO in May, when it emerged that the Norwegian Gaming Authority was mulling fining the firm €3.9m ($4.4m) for a glitch in lottery draws that handed “an unfair advantage to cooperative players.”
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