Thousands of Norwegian lottery players received false notifications about winning huge prizes Friday. The state gambling company Norsk Tipping sent messages telling people they had won millions of kroner. The notifications contained massive errors that made prize amounts appear much larger than reality. Company officials discovered the mistake and corrected the amounts Saturday evening. No players actually received incorrect payments from the lottery operator.
A currency conversion error caused the problem when converting euros to Norwegian kroner. Workers multiplied prize amounts by 100 instead of dividing them by 100. The company receives winning amounts from Germany and must convert them to local currency. One woman believed she had won 1.2 million kroner but received only a small fraction of that sum. She had planned to use the money for home renovations.
Norsk Tipping CEO Tonje Sagstuen resigned Saturday after the incident. She apologized to disappointed players and accepted responsibility for the massive error. Sagstuen had led the company since September 2023 and worked there for more than ten years. The Culture Ministry held an emergency meeting with company leaders about the mistake. Government officials expressed concern about the error since Norsk Tipping holds exclusive gaming rights.
The gambling company has faced multiple technical problems during recent months. Regulators and customers have criticized Norsk Tipping for various operational failures. Company officials admitted the criticism was fair and promised to improve their control systems. The Culture Minister said such mistakes cannot happen again at the state lottery operator.
A currency conversion error caused the problem when converting euros to Norwegian kroner. Workers multiplied prize amounts by 100 instead of dividing them by 100. The company receives winning amounts from Germany and must convert them to local currency. One woman believed she had won 1.2 million kroner but received only a small fraction of that sum. She had planned to use the money for home renovations.
Norsk Tipping CEO Tonje Sagstuen resigned Saturday after the incident. She apologized to disappointed players and accepted responsibility for the massive error. Sagstuen had led the company since September 2023 and worked there for more than ten years. The Culture Ministry held an emergency meeting with company leaders about the mistake. Government officials expressed concern about the error since Norsk Tipping holds exclusive gaming rights.
The gambling company has faced multiple technical problems during recent months. Regulators and customers have criticized Norsk Tipping for various operational failures. Company officials admitted the criticism was fair and promised to improve their control systems. The Culture Minister said such mistakes cannot happen again at the state lottery operator.
