Lottery winners about to lose millions in unclaimed prizes
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Some lucky lottery winners are about to become very unlucky if they don't come forward to claim their prizes soon.
An unknown person won $4.8 million in Tatts' Set for Life lottery on January 21, meaning they will get $20,000 a month for 20 years.
But under Victorian law, the lottery winner must come forward within six months to claim their prize, otherwise they lose it.
Consequently, the winner has only a matter of weeks to find the ticket and come forward.
The Set for Life entry was bought at Echuca Square Lotto on the border with NSW.
There's a $1 million lottery winner in South Australia who also has little more than a month to come forward and claim their prize.
The Saturday X Lotto division one prize was drawn on July 18, 2020.
Under South Australian law, the prize must be claimed within 12 months.
The ticket was bought at newsXpress Naracoorte. Because the ticket was not registered, lottery officials have no idea who won.
There is $7.8 million worth of unclaimed lottery prizes across NSW and the ACT, with a ticket from Canberra accounting for more than half of the cash.
The ticket was bought at the Thistle Kiosk in Woden in Canberra on April 8 this year, but the winner has still not come forward.
As a consequence, the $4.8 million prize remains unclaimed.
There's also a $1.1 million prize with a mystery winner from April 17 this year, bought at Winston Hills Newsagency.
And somebody has waited nearly three years to claim their $1 million prize bought at Connection Newsagency in Sydney.
"We haven't heard a peep from this winner in two and a half years," the Lott spokesperson Lauren Cooney said.
"We've had past division one winners come forward months and even years after the draw after finding an old ticket in the back of a drawer, in the central console of their car, and at the bottom of their handbag."
Unclaimed major lottery prizes across New South Wales & ACT
*This is the draw date, not the entry purchase date. Entries could have been purchased up to 10 weeks in advance of a draw.
Because the lucky winners did not register their ticket to a player card or an online account, officials have no idea who they are.
Lottery winners have six years to claim their prize in NSW and the ACT before they miss their chance.
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