$70M lotto ticket expires without being claimed — what happens now?
A massive lotto prize that remained unclaimed for a year has expired without being validated.
In what it calls “a rare occurrence in Canadian lottery history,” the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) says that no one stepped up to collect the $70 million Lotto Max ticket from last year’s June 28 draw.
“As of the deadline of 10:30 pm June 28, 2023, the physical $70 million winning ticket, which was sold at a lottery retailer in Scarborough, was not validated at an OLG lottery terminal,” reads a statement from OLG on Thursday.
Here’s what happens in the aftermath of the lotto ticket’s expiration.
OLG reviewing thousands of lost lotto ticket claims
If you were able to submit a claim before the Wednesday deadline, you may still have a chance.
Since the announcement of this unclaimed lotto jackpot, OLG has been inundated with calls.
“The awareness campaign resulted in more than 1,100 calls to OLG’s Customer Care Centre with people claiming to have lost the ticket,” stated the company.
It added that due to the high volume of lost ticket claims, its team of lottery investigators needs time to review all of the potential claims made before the expiry deadline.
“After that process is complete, we will provide a further update,” said the OLG.
What likely happened to the unclaimed ticket
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OLG spokesperson Tony Bitonti told Daily Hive earlier this month that it’s likely that the person lost the slip.
This is why the corporation advises players to do the following:
- Sign their ticket as soon as it purchased at a retail location
- Keep the ticket in a safe and memorable location until draw time
- Check the ticket as soon as the draw is complete
- Purchase a lottery ticket on OLG.ca and you will be notified by email if your ticket has won a prize
“Keep it on your fridge, in your junk drawer, but check it right away,” said Bitonti. “Don’t forget about them.”
What happens to the prize if they don’t find the winner?
Simply put, the $70 million jackpot will be pumped back into the Lotto Max prize pool through future bonus games or promotions.
If you happen to find the golden ticket and try to validate it now, unfortunately, you’re too late.
According to the OLG, if an attempt is made to validate a winning lottery ticket past its one-year deadline, the customer will get a message from the terminal saying their ticket is expired.
Information about other unclaimed tickets can be found on the OLG.ca Unclaimed Tickets page.