Huge $70 mil lotto jackpot officially unclaimed: OLG
Published August 10, 2023 at 10:28 am
Close to 2,700 calls and emails came in from people claiming to have lost the winning Lotto Max ticket that would have made them $70 million richer, but it appears none of those callers were the rightful winners of the officially unclaimed prize.
Today (Aug. 10), OLG announced that the massive jackpot from the June 28, 2022, Lotto Max draw has officially been declared unclaimed.
The unclaimed ticket, sold in Scarborough, was the subject of a province-wide awareness campaign that generated thousands of responses.
According to the OPP, a 33-year-old North Bay woman is facing charges after allegedly submitting a false claim for the $70 million prize. She is facing fraud and forgery-related charges in connection with the claim.
OLG said the physical $70 million winning ticket was not validated at an OLG lottery terminal or presented to OLG on or before the deadline of 10:30 pm on June 28, 2023.
OLG also said the ticket was never checked at a self-serve ticket checker or through the OLG App.
All OLG lottery tickets expire one year following the draw date printed on the ticket.
“OLG is committed to paying the right prize to the rightful owner of a winning ticket—every time. Due to the high volume of lost ticket claims, OLG’s dedicated team of lottery investigators took the time necessary to thoroughly review each and every potential claim,” OLG said in a news release.
“Now that this process is complete, we can report that none of those claims were successful. Thus, the $70 million prize is officially unclaimed.”
OLG says the prize money has been returned to the prize pool for future bonus games or promotions of national lottery games.
To prevent prizes from going unclaimed, OLG recommend that purchasers sign their ticket, keep it in a safe and memorable location, check it as soon as the draw is complete and consider purchasing tickets online in order to receive email notifications regarding wins.
Purchasers can check their lottery tickets using the OLG App or a self-serve ticket checker at lottery retail locations. They can also ask the retailer to check the lottery ticket through the lottery terminal.