Norwegian lotto mistakenly told thousands they were filthy rich after math error
- Reference: 1751306537
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/06/30/norwegian_lotto_error/
- Source link:
Eurojackpot, a pan-European lottery launched in 2012, holds two draws per week, and its jackpots start at €10 million (about $12 million) with a rollover cap of €120 million ($141 million).
Norsk Tipping, Norway's Eurojackpot administrator, [1]admitted on Friday that a "manual error" it its conversion process from Eurocents to Norwegian kroner multiplied amounts by 100 instead of dividing them.
[2]
As a result, " [3]thousands " of players were briefly shown jackpots far higher than their actual winnings before the mistake was caught, but no incorrect payouts were made.
[4]
[5]
Norsk Tipping didn't disclose how large the false jackpots were, but math suggests the improper amounts were 10,000x times higher. Regardless, it seems like a lot of people thought they were big winners, based on what the company's now-former CEO, Tonje Sagstuen, said on Saturday.
"I have received many messages from people who had managed to make plans for holidays, buying an apartment or renovating before they realized that the amount was wrong," Sagstuen [6]said in a statement. "To them I can only say: Sorry!"
[7]
The incorrect prize amounts were visible on the Norsk Tipping website only briefly on Friday, but the CEO still [8]resigned over the weekend following the incident.
[9]Programming error created billion-dollar mistake that made the coder ... a hero?
[10]Coding error in forgotten API blamed for massive data breach
[11]ChatGPT's odds of getting code questions correct are worse than a coin flip
[12]Techie went home rather than fix mistake that caused a massive meltdown
While one of the Norsk Tipping press releases regarding the incident described it as "not a technical error," it still appears someone fat-fingered a bit of data entry. The company said it will nonetheless be investigating how such a mistake could have happened "to prevent something similar from happening again."
This isn't the first time Norsk Tipping has been in hot water of late, with the lotto authority even admitting in one of its own press statements released over the weekend that "several serious errors have been uncovered in the company in recent months, and Friday's incident comes on top of these."
Along with this past weekend's jackpot chaos, an April [13]error between Norsk Tipping's customer base and gaming engine led to delays in confirming winners. In February, the Norwegian Gambling Authority [14]proposed a fine for failures in Norsk Tipping's self-exclusion tool that violated responsible gambling regulations.
The new acting CEO of the organization, Vegar Strand, [15]intends to use his time at the helm to rebuild trust in the Norsk Tipping after those issues.
[16]
"We have greatly disappointed our customers, and take full responsibility for cleaning up," Strand said, calling criticism of the firm by Norwegian officials justified. ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.norsk-tipping.no/nyheter/visningsfeil-i-eurojackpot
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aGMI9kfyKu-dPv7f3h6U-gAAAkw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.norsk-tipping.no/nyheter/norsk-tipping-sender-beklagelse-til-berorte-kunder-etter-eurojackpot-feilen
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aGMI9kfyKu-dPv7f3h6U-gAAAkw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aGMI9kfyKu-dPv7f3h6U-gAAAkw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://presse.norsk-tipping.no/pressreleases/norsk-tipping-vi-er-lei-oss-over-aa-ha-skuffet-saa-mange-3394478
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aGMI9kfyKu-dPv7f3h6U-gAAAkw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://presse.norsk-tipping.no/pressreleases/tonje-sagstuen-fratrer-som-administrerende-direktoer-i-norsk-tipping-3394490
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/05/who_me/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/21/optus_data_breach_faulty_api/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/07/chatgpt_stack_overflow_ai/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/23/who_me/
[13] https://presse.norsk-tipping.no/pressreleases/forsinket-resultatkobling-av-lotto-og-supertrekning-3381940
[14] https://presse.norsk-tipping.no/pressreleases/lotteritilsynet-varsler-bot-til-norsk-tipping-3370070
[15] https://www.norsk-tipping.no/nyheter/norsk-tipping-sender-beklagelse-til-berorte-kunder-etter-eurojackpot-feilen
[16] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aGMI9kfyKu-dPv7f3h6U-gAAAkw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: AI Math
Yes.
Staging?
Have they not heard of stageing environments, where, you know, you can test changes before they go in to production?
At least the CEO had the decency to fall upon their sword.
Re: Staging?
Everybody has a development, staging, test and production environment. Sometimes production is separate.
Re: Staging?
So you don't edit .php files on production server via ftp?
Re: Staging?
What is edit? What is ftp? We have a few jumper boards. But only after a coworker got a shock and burn programming the live system. Much better than the mechanical barrels we used two years ago which did cost a few fingers. Luckily none of mine...
Manual error
Multiplied by 100. But the article says the amounts were inflated by 10,000x.
So did they erroneously manually multiply by 100 TWICE, or was the first multiplication by design and the error was a later step of dividing by 100 was done as another multiply?
Re: Manual error
Sound like a mix up of "divide by 0.01" instead of "multiply with 0.01". They probably still use tabletop calculators with paper feed. Or maybe the should have use that.
"To them I can only say: Sorry!"
No buddy, you're going to be a lot sorrier when a class-action lawsuit (or whatever the Norwegian equivalent is) lands in front of a judge who will undoubtedly decide that you are to pay for the costs of annulation of contracts that these "winners" contracted in good faith.
The joy of being fat fingered
Paying a multi-hundred pound bill at a UK Post Office in cash, I only realised the receipt showed it as hundreds of pence when I got home.
That was an overnight worry as to how I would ever prove it but, as I had hoped, their end of day audit had flagged the discrepancy between cash in tills and expected balances so they were already prepared when I arrived, They were rather sheepish and non-communicative but got it sorted out efficiently. Mistakes happen and I was rather sanguine and sympathetic about it; my righteous indignation and raised voice is reserved for those who aren't so cooperative in resolving issues.
Looking back, knowing what I now know of Horizon; I suspect they may even have been crapping themselves more than I was.
And, yes, I am more rigorous in checking receipts when I am handed them. Tomorrow's instalment; why you should always request a receipt from the self-service till.
Re: The joy of being fat fingered
I once bought a £4 plant from a garden centre, only to discover later they'd charged my card £400. They did swiftly correct the mistake though, thankfully.
Re: The joy of being fat fingered
A similar problem arises here Stateside at every petrol pump - if paying by credit card, one has to first key in the amount to pre-authorize. So, for example, if you think you're going to need <= $40 worth of fuel, you'd key in 40.
Except that every pump I've seen interprets the input as cents not dollars, so you actually need to enter... 4000.
There were occasions in the past before I was wise to this that I embarrassingly authorized only 40 cents or so to be taken from my card; I fear that if I ever encounter a pump that does it a sensible way (why would you ever need to authorize down to the cents level?) I'm going to wonder why a hold of $4000 has been placed on my card!
The Norwegian Gambling Authority proposed a fine
Frankly, they deserve the full wrath of the Fjord Prefect.
AI Math
Am I right or am I right?