A Norwegian man who joked he would need to win the lottery to buy a holiday home was left devastated after a glitch made him believe he had won £97,000 – only to discover the truth 15 minutes later.
Ole Fredrik Sveen, who plays the lottery every few weeks, was on holiday in Greece with his partner when he received a text from Norsk Tipping, the Norwegian lottery corporation, saying he had won 1.3 million kroner (£97,000) in the Eurojackpot. 'My hands were shaking,' he told The Guardian. 'My heart skipped a beat.'
He immediately called his mother to share the news, but after hanging up, he checked the winning numbers and realised he had only matched two main numbers and one bonus number – not enough for such a large prize. 'My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach,' he said.
He then discovered that Norsk Tipping had made a serious currency conversion error, multiplying the prize money instead of dividing it. His actual winnings were about £10, along with thousands of others who were wrongly told they had won big. 'Reality laughed in my face,' he said.
His partner burst into tears, and Ole felt 'angry' and 'crushing disappointment'. Norsk Tipping’s CEO, Tonje Sagstuen, apologised and resigned the following day, acknowledging the 'breach of trust'.
