$275 Million in lost lotto prizes

Herald Sun - Dec 15, 2007
Annalise Walliker

VICTORIANS would be almost $275 million richer if only they hadn't lost their lotto ticket. A staggering $274.6 million in unclaimed Tattslotto, Oz Lotto and Powerball prizes is sitting in State Government coffers.

Some of the winnings go as far back at 1972, when Tattslotto first began.

Among the forgotten loot are 16 unclaimed division one prizes worth a total $10.4 million. The biggest unclaimed prize is a $2 million ticket sold at Cheltenham DFO in February 2005. An April Fool's Day draw could have made someone $227,677 richer, if only they had returned to The Dream Shop in Mordialloc back in 1995.

The oldest unclaimed division-one win was sold at Campbellfield in 1986, while the most recent one was from a Quick Pick entry bought in Yarraville last year and worth $1.4 million. Kilmore Newsagency has the most unlucky winners, with two division one entries totalling $968,000 unclaimed in 1993 and 1996.

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