A Norwegian lottery company has issued an apology to 47,000 individuals who were erroneously informed that they had won substantial lottery prizes, attributing the mistake to a currency conversion issue.
The state-owned gambling group Norsk Tipping reported that they released inaccurate prize amounts after a Eurojackpot draw on Friday due to an error in converting euro cents to Norwegian kroner.
The winnings were mistakenly multiplied by 100 instead of being divided by 100, according to the company.
Among the dismayed was Ole Fredrik Sveen, who was vacationing in Greece when he received a notification from Norsk Tipping stating he had won 1.2 million kroner (€101,400).
In reality, his winnings totaled just 125 kroner (€10).
Both he and the other 47,000 recipients received text message apologies from Norsk Tipping for the blunder.
“The apology felt like inadequate compensation. It should have been sent out immediately following the error, not today,” he remarked.
Norsk Tipping has faced significant backlash for the error, not just from affected players like Mr. Sveen but also from regulatory authorities.
The Lottery Authority announced that they had initiated a review to assess whether gambling regulations had been violated, with Culture Minister Lubna Jaffery deeming the mistake “completely unacceptable”.
Following the scandal, the firm’s chief executive Tonje Sagstuen stepped down on Saturday, leaving acting CEO Vegar Strand to offer an apology.
Mr. Strand emphasized that the company’s state ownership rendered the mistake particularly problematic, acknowledging that it was “entirely reliant on the trust of the population.”
“We have profoundly disappointed our customers and fully accept responsibility for resolving the matter. Such errors are serious for a company entrusted with managing the faith of Norwegians,” he stated.
“Restoring trust is our top priority moving forward.”
