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OSLO, June 30, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - A Norwegian lottery company on Monday 
apologised to 47,000 crestfallen gamblers who were mistakenly told they had 
won huge sums in a lottery, the firm blaming a currency conversion error.

State-owned gambling group Norsk Tipping said they had published incorrect 
prize amounts after a Eurojackpot draw on Friday because of an error 
converting from euro cents to Norwegian kroner.

The winnings had been multiplied by 100 instead of being divided by 100, the 
company said.

Among the disappointed was Ole Fredrik Sveen, who was on holiday in Greece 
when he received a message from Norsk Tipping that he had won 1.2 million 
kroner ($119,000).

"I thought: 'Wow, is it finally my turn? Could it be true?' I go onto the 
Norsk Tipping website, and there it says in black and white: 
'Congratulations, you have won!'," Sveen told public broadcaster NRK on 
Monday.

In reality, he had won 125 kroner ($12).

On Monday, Sveen and the 47,000 others received apologies by text message 
from Norsk Tipping for the snafu.

"The apology was a poor consolation. They should have sent it out after the 
mistake, not today," he said.

Norsk Tipping has been heavily criticised for the error -- not only from 
devastated players like Sveen but also from the authorities.

The Lottery Authority said Monday it had launched a review to determine if 
gambling laws had been broken, and Culture Minister Lubna Jaffery called the 
error "totally unacceptable".

The firm's chief executive Tonje Sagstuen resigned on Saturday after the 
scandal, leaving acting chief executive Vegar Strand to apologise on Monday.

Strand said his company's state ownership made the mistake particularly 
problematic, noting that the firm was "entirely dependent on the trust of the 
population".

"We have deeply disappointed our customers and take full responsibility for 
rectifying the situation. Such errors are serious for a company that is 
supposed to manage the trust of Norwegians," Strand said.

"The work to rebuild trust again has the highest priority going forward."