Lottery association accidentally announces wrong winning numbers
Imagine checking your lottery ticket and realizing you won, only to discover later that the wrong numbers had been announced.
Iowa Lottery found itself in a bit of a predicament after the Powerball draw on Monday, November 27. The results went live as usual, except there was a problem: they were the wrong winning numbers.
According to a blog post recounting what happened, the wrong winning numbers went up at 12:30 am, and it was only when the lottery staff noticed the mistake that the results were taken down at 7:15 am. The correct results were published at 3:30 pm, and winners could claim prizes.
But what happened to those whose tickets matched the wrong winning numbers?
The correct winning numbers (Iowa Lottery)
Iowa Lottery honoured those winning tickets, but only for a limited time.
“Prizes were paid for any of those tickets presented during the time period that the incorrect results were posted,” states the website.
According to their records, 3,998 Powerball plays were purchased in Iowa. Monday’s draw resulted in $24,382 in winnings, and prizes ranged from $4 to $200.
After looking into the incident, the association concluded that the wrong numbers had been published due to “human error.”
Stone’s Throwe Photo/Shutterstock
“The Powerball drawing was conducted correctly as scheduled Monday night, and official results were produced,” reads the statement. “But the Iowa Lottery’s redundant reporting procedures failed after the drawing. We at the Iowa Lottery sincerely apologize for the interruption.”