Region's Lotto mystery solved - but one still remains

One ‘mystery’ has been solved, but another remains - possibly for ever - among the lottery players of Moreton Bay Region.

A ‘mystery’ winner from the Monday and Wednesday Gold Lotto on August 24, 2022 has now come forward to claim their $1 million prize.

The ticket was bought at Nextra Morayfield Village News – the same outlet as a $1 million-winning ticket from a draw on June 20, 2015.

That winner has never come forward and with the ticket not registered to a player card or online account, the lottery has been unable to identify or contact the owner.

Under Queensland’s lottery and Instant Scratch-It rules, all wins must be claimed within seven years of the draw date.

Longest wait

As that has now passed, The Lott cannot pay out, should a claimant come forward and the cash has ‘purged’ to the State Government.

Thankfully, it is a rare occurrence. A lottery spokesperson said there are no outstanding major prizes unclaimed in this region.

In fact, so far this year, Moreton Bay Region has had seven major lottery winners with a collective $7.9 million going into their bank accounts.

The spokesperson said in the last five years, 11 Division One winning entries in our region were unclaimed for a number of days – the longest being 21.

That was for a $100,000 Lucky Lotteries Super Jackpot first prize, bought at News Extra Lillybrook in Kallangur and drawn in July 2019. The winner came forward the following month.

Millions unclaimed

Across Queensland almost $5 million of unclaimed Division One and major lottery prizes have still to be claimed.

Two go back six years and one is the largest, $1.34 million for a Saturday Gold Lotto ticket, bought at Lutwyche and drawn on December 31, 2016.

“We always encourage all players to register their entries to a player card or online account as this allows us to contact them to unite them with their prize,” the lottery spokesperson said.

“Each State Government has different regulations around the time periods lottery players have to claim their wins directly from lottery operators.

“In Queensland, unclaimed prize money can be returned to players in various ways through bonus draws, promotions and community contributions to Queensland-registered not-for-profit organisations.”