"To Them I Can Only Say: Sorry!", Thousands of Norwegian Lottery Players Were Incorrectly Informed They Won Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in Eurojackpot Winnings

CBS News – Thousands of lottery players in Norway were mistakenly told last week that they had won more money than they actually did.

Norsk Tipping, the state-owned gambling company, on Friday said people who won the Eurojackpot were told they had won millions in incorrect amounts. It's unclear exactly how many people were impacted, but no customers were paid the wrong prizes, the company said in a news release.

The mistake stemmed from an error when winnings in Euros — which the company receives from Germany — were converted to Norwegian kroner, and they were multiplied by 100 instead of divided by 100, the company said.

"I am terribly sorry that we have disappointed so many, and I understand that people are angry with us," Norsk Tipping CEO Tonje Sagstuen said in a translated statement. "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. To them I can only say: Sorry! But I understand that it is a small consolation."

Take a deep breath Norwegians. Now is not the time to tuck your tail between your legs and feel sorry for yourselves. Now is the time to pick yourself up by the wooden clog straps and put your lawsuit pants on. The way I see it, you have two options. You can go the safe (i.e. cowards) route and cite the emotional distress being told you've won a large sum of money, then having it ripped away from you causes a person. Maybe you wind up with a few thousand dollars. At very most low five-figs. That's your first option. 

Alternatively, you can nut up and take a risk that may very well wind up putting you in an amount of debt you'll be working the rest of your life to pay off. But you've already been dumping your hard earned money into "Eurojackpot". I know you fine Norwegians are the gambling type.  As you well know, you gotta spend money to make money. If you're too scared to take risks, you'll never get ahead in life. So go ahead and pull up that original Eurojackpot notification promising you've won an amount of kroner equivalent to $119,000 USD. Now head to your nearest predatory loan company, or car dealership, or pawn shop, or whatever shady business is desperate enough award you a signifiant loan on the back of a Eurojackpot "You've won so much money" notification. Once you've immediately spent all of your money on non-refundable items (expensive dinners, fine chocolates, etc.), that's when it's time for, "Oh. My. Stars. How I am just now seeing that my winning notification was a mistake. Thanks to Eurojackpot promising me $119,000 dollars in government money, I've made financial decisions that I will surely never recover from. Eurojackpot has ruined my life." 

Now that's a lawsuit. That's a real, tangible amount of money to sue for, on top of the actual mental toll facing over a hundred thousand American dollars in debt will take on a person. But you have to act fast while it's still feasible that you never saw Eurojackpot's issued correction. Then find yourself a hungry, "We Only Get Paid if You Get Paid" lawyer to take them to the cleaners. Pay off your loan in full, cut in the lawyer for his allotted percentage, and just like that you're sitting on enough delectable Norwegian chocolates to last a lifetime. Suck on that, Eurojackpot. 

Unfortunately when you're the government of thriving country like Norway, there's zero chance of garnering the slightest amount of sympathy or understanding for a mistake of that nature. Nobody who's playing the Eurojackpot wants to hear, "Sorry!". The only thing they want to hear is, "We fucked up. But since we have more money than God, we will be honoring our mistake and paying out the winnings we promised, because it still won't even make the slightest dent in our bottom line." 

Even if that's not true at all, that's what the people who received this false notification are thinking. They read, "Norse Tipping, the state-owned gambling company", and their minds immediately go to how can I fleece them for every penny their worth, and not feel the slightest bit of remorse about any lower-level employees who get fucked over in the process. It's government money. For all intents and purposes, it might as well be limitless. That's always a tough, "My bad!", to ask your citizens to swallow.