The Norwegian scores thought they became billionaires after being notified of them saying they had gotten eye water from a state-run gambling company – until it turned out to be a mistake.
“Thousands” of people who won prizes at Eurojackpot were notified of the wrong amount on Friday, Northsk Tipping said. The company refused to check the exact number of people affected by the BBC.
Norsk Tipping CEO Tonje Sagstuen apologized and resigned a day later.
The company said the winnings will be “overly high” due to an error in the conversion of Eurocent to Norwegian cloner. According to local media, instead of dividing the amount by 100, they multiplied it by 100.
Norsk Tipping receives prize money from Germany for the euro and converts them into Norwegian cloners.
The correct amount was updated on Saturday evening. No incorrect payments were made, the gambling company said.
“We are very sorry that we have disappointed so many people. We understand that people are mad at us,” Sagstuen said in a statement, adding that “criticism is justified when we consider “criticism is a violation of trust.”
She said she received several messages from people planning on going on holiday, renovating their homes, or buying an apartment.
“I can tell them: Sorry! But I understand that it’s a little comfort,” she said.
One woman told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) in the middle of the renovation project that she had received a notification that she had won 1.2 million crore ($119,000: £87,000), but instead received a small portion of that total.
The Norsk Tipping Board met with the Ministry of Culture, which manages the company’s operations for an emergency meeting on Saturday.
After the meeting, Sagstuen resigned from his role as CEO. She held the position since September 2023 and has been working for Norsk Tipping since 2014.
“Things have failed in a few places, and this is my fault,” she said.
She said she was “sad” to leave but was confident in the “improvement process” that was introduced.
Minister of Culture and Equality Lubna Jaferi told NRK that “that mistake should not happen,” particularly as Norsk Chip has the exclusive right to provide gaming services within the country.
“We hope that the board will work proactively to improve its control routine,” she said.
This is not the first time Norsk Tipping has been criticized.
The company said “several serious errors have been discovered” in recent months, and “we have experienced many technical issues over the past year.”
The criticism was “justified” by regulators and their customers, admitting that it was “heavy criticised.”
