Thousands of Norwegians wrongly told they won lottery

Thousands of Norwegians believed they had become instant millionaires after receiving a notification from the country’s national lottery operator, Norsk Tipping, due to a major error.

The company admitted that “several thousand” players who had actually won small prizes were mistakenly notified with incorrect amounts — inflated significantly due to a conversion mistake. Norsk Tipping’s CEO, Tonje Sagstuen, apologized for the incident and announced her resignation in the wake of the backlash.

According to local media, a technical glitch caused the prize amounts to be multiplied by 100 instead of divided by 100. The error occurred during the currency conversion process from euros — received from Germany — to Norwegian kroner.

“I am terribly sorry that we have disappointed so many people, and I completely understand the anger,” Sagstuen said in a statement. She acknowledged the public outrage, calling it a justified reaction to a serious breach of trust.

“To everyone affected, all I can say is: I'm sorry. I know that's small comfort,” she added.