Globally, it is believed that more than $100 million in prizes from various lotteries go unclaimed each day. Since most jackpots are instantly won, this amount is primarily made up of collected lower-tier rewards.
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The primary reasons people fail to collect their lottery prizes include forgetting they purchased tickets, misplacing them, or having their tickets snatched. Some individuals even refuse to claim lesser victories because they don’t think the trouble of traveling to the store to collect it is worthwhile.
However, those sizable multi-million dollar prizes do sometimes remain unclaimed. The most significant unclaimed prizes from throughout the world are listed here.
1. EuroMillions – Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, £64 million
The greatest unclaimed EuroMillions prize ever was awarded in this drawing, which occurred on June 8th, 2012. To find the winner, its lottery operator repeatedly pleaded with the general public to verify their cards through a poster campaign.
However, the ticket-holder didn’t come up within the time to claim the win and has, therefore, regrettably lost out on receiving this fantastic sum of money.
The winnings and the interest they accrued were donated to organizations around the U.k.
2. Mega Millions $1.34B Jackpot Still Unclaimed
Almost a month later, the winning numbers were selected, and the second-largest Jackpot prize remains unclaimed.
Officials from the Illinois Lotto asked people to verify their cards’ values on Thursday. This winner was purchased at a Speed filling station and grocery shop within the Chicago neighborhood of Des Plaines. It is eligible for a payout of $1.337 bn in thirty years or a cash payout of roughly $780 million. Even though, after the drawing, recipients get twelve months to use their winning tickets. Massive jackpot winners are urged to sign the reverse of the winning tickets as quickly as they can and to consult an attorney before collecting their award, according to lottery authorities. As other people may tend to buy Mega Millions tickets online.
3. Powerball: Georgia, United States; $77 million
When a Georgia player eventually learns they were unsuccessful in winning the $77 million lottery, they might not be so happy! The unfortunate winner bought Lottery tickets for said June 29 drawing at a stop light in Tallapoosa, Georgia. Unfortunately, 180 days was just not long enough since the ticket eventually ran out in Dec 2011. After Georgia’s lottery was created in 1993, the unclaimed prize marked the nation as the largest one to go unclaimed.
4. Mega Millions – U.S. prize of $68 million
In Dec 2002, the winning lottery ticket was purchased in the Queens neighborhood of New York City. Sadly, no one claimed the winning lottery ticket in the allotted 180 days, and the reward was therefore forfeited.
However, this narrative still has another unexpected turn. A guy by the title of Fritzner Bechette stepped forth after the 180-day window had expired and claimed to be the recipient and had misplaced his card in some “non-retrievable scenario.”
Nys Lotto was sued for $68 million, and any interest would have accrued had the jackpot been won. However, after a protracted inquiry and legal dispute, Fritzner’s claim was overturned, and his argument was finally dismissed, resulting in him being left with nothing.
5. $51.7 million Powerball prize won in Indiana, U.S
There was just one victory of the $51.7 million prize in a Sept 2003 Us Lotto draw. However, the top prize was never claimed.
Two winners shared the prize for this drawing, receiving $51.7 million. While the runner-up failed to present the winning lottery ticket timely and could not collect the reward, the first winner immediately appeared.
In the days preceding the date, the Lottery Commission ran television commercials and newspaper ads and even rented a banner to alert the public that no one had come forth to collect the award.
In the end, nobody came. Therefore the cash reward was added to the cash prize for future Powerball drawings.
6. Mega Millions: Nyc, United States; $46 million
On April 25, 2006, a drawing was held, and the top prize was purchased in Brooklyn, Nyc. Unfortunately, after 180 days, this award was left unclaimed, becoming the Nyc United States with the most unredeemed lottery winners.
This $46 million was transferred to the Jackpot prize money, raising the amount of the subsequent jackpot payout.
Summing up
If you purchase paper tickets, it’s essential to store them safely to prevent loss or destruction.
In this post-modern era, it makes perfect sense to wager on online lotto results. By doing this, the provider and online marketplace where you purchased a number will maintain an electronic record of your purchase on the online persona. Without getting into specifics, backup copies are created after each day, even though they may be revived in the event that there is a problem with the server farms that power the software the online gambling platform uses. This double-checks ensures you will never overlook accumulating your jackpot prize money due to a misplaced ticket.
