Scores of Norwegians thought they had become millionaires after receiving a notification from the state-owned gambling company saying they had won eye-watering sums - until it turned out it was a mistake. "Several thousand" people who won prizes in the Eurojackpot were notified of incorrect amounts on Friday, Norsk Tipping said. The company declined to confirm the exact number of those impacted to the BBC. Norsk Tipping CEO Tonje Sagstuen apologised and resigned a day later. An error in the conversion from Eurocents to Norwegian kroner caused the prize amounts to be "excessively high", the company said. The amount was multiplied by 100, instead of being divided by 100, local media reported. Norsk Tipping receives the prize amounts from Germany in euros, and then converts them to Norwegian kroner. The correct amounts were updated on Saturday evening. No incorrect pay-outs were made, the gambling company said. "I am terribly sorry that we have disappointed so many, and I understand that people are angry with us," Ms Sagstuen said in a statement, adding that "criticism is justified" given the "breach of trust". She said she had received several messages from people who were planning to go on holiday, renovate their homes or buy an apartment. "To them I can only say: Sorry! But I understand that it is a small consolation," she said. One woman, in the middle of a renovation project, told Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) she received a notification that she had won 1.2 million kroner ($119,000: £87,000), but instead received only a fraction of that sum. The Norsk Tipping board met with the Ministry of Culture, which administers the running of the company, for an emergency meeting on Saturday. After the meeting, Ms Sagstuen stepped down from her role as CEO. She held the position since September 2023 and had worked at Norsk Tipping since 2014. "Here, things have failed in several places, this is my responsibility," she said. She said she was "sad" to leave but confident in the "improvement processes" that have been put in place. Minister of Culture and Equality Lubna Jaffery told NRK that "such mistakes should not happen", especially as Norsk Tipping has the exclusive right to deliver gaming services in the country. "We expect the board to work actively to improve the control routines," she said. This is not the first time Norsk Tipping has found itself under criticism. The company said that "several serious errors have been uncovered" in recent months and it had "experienced a number of technical problems in the past year". It acknowledged it had been "heavily criticised" by the regulator and its customers, and the criticism "was justified".
Thousands in Norway told they won up to millions in lottery error
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"Norsk Tipping CEO Resigns After Lottery Prize Notification Error Misleads Thousands"
Bbc News
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TruthLens AI Summary
A significant error by Norsk Tipping, Norway's state-owned gambling company, led to widespread confusion as thousands of citizens were mistakenly informed that they had won substantial lottery prizes. On a recent Friday, the company notified several thousand participants in the Eurojackpot that they had won large sums of money; however, it was later revealed that these amounts were grossly inflated due to a conversion error from Eurocents to Norwegian kroner. Instead of dividing the prize amounts by 100, the company erroneously multiplied them, leading to the announcement of excessively high winnings. Following the incident, Norsk Tipping's CEO, Tonje Sagstuen, issued an apology and resigned the next day, acknowledging the breach of trust and the disappointment caused to the winners. She expressed sympathy for those who had started planning their future based on the erroneous notifications, including individuals who were in the midst of renovations or contemplating significant purchases.
The fallout from this mistake prompted an emergency meeting between the Norsk Tipping board and Norway's Ministry of Culture, which oversees the company's operations. Sagstuen, who had been with Norsk Tipping since 2014 and became CEO just a month prior, took responsibility for the incident, stating that multiple failures had occurred that led to the error. Minister of Culture and Equality, Lubna Jaffery, emphasized that such mistakes should not happen, especially given Norsk Tipping's exclusive rights to provide gaming services in the country. She urged the board to enhance their control processes to prevent any recurrence of similar issues. This incident is not isolated, as Norsk Tipping has faced criticism in recent months for various technical problems and errors. The company has acknowledged the criticism from both the regulator and the public, recognizing that it is justified given the circumstances.
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