A man thought he had won an £11m Lottery fortune after his numbers came up – but was left empty handed after making a devastating mistake.
Mark Fletcher, 49, from Wigan, Greater Manchester, was over-joyed when he checked his Lotto app and discovered he had matched all six numbers correctly.
The Lottery app then seemed to confirm his whopping cash prize when it indicated a ‘winning match’ between the numbers drawn and Mr Fletcher’s numbers – which were highlighted in red on-screen.
Believing to have won the huge sum, Mark contacted the Lotto – only to be told that his winnings came to zero because he had misread crucial information.
It turned out that, sadly for Mark, he had been looking at the ticket with the winning numbers, and not the one he had originally purchased.
Mark Fletcher (pictured) thought he had won an £11m Lottery fortune after his numbers came up – but was left empty handed after making a devastating mistake
Mr Fletcher, 49, from Wigan, Greater Manchester, checked the numbers on the Lotto app for the draw on Saturday June 29
Speaking to Wigan Today, he said: ‘I was a bit shocked when I checked the numbers and found they matched.
‘However when I rang them up to check I was on the phone for 45 minutes and the woman was adamant I wasn’t a winner.
‘Then I asked why it was telling me I’d won and if there was a fault with the app, and they denied that also.
Mark also claimed that, upon contacting the Lotto team, he was not granted any ‘sympathy’ by the company.
He added: ‘I felt as if I was being put under a lie-detector. She kept saying, ‘you haven’t bought that ticket, have you Mark?’
‘When people play the Lotto, they think it’s a trustworthy service but I’m doubting that now. They’ve not shown any empathy towards me.
‘It has impacted me – I’m left thinking about all the ‘what ifs.’ If they’ve told me I’ve won but in actual fact I’ve won nothing, it’s a bit cruel and I’ve had sleepless nights.’
A spokesperson for Lotto operators Allwyn said: ‘Players can select any set of ”my numbers”, save these in their app account and then go into the app and check them against any previous draw.
‘It has nothing to do with whether a player actually played the numbers or not – and, in this case, the player did not play this set of six numbers via his online account for the draw on June 29, or indeed in any draws prior to the draw on June 29 taking place.’
Believing to have won the huge cash sum, Mark contacted the Lotto – only to be told that his winnings came to zero because he had misread crucial information
It turned out that, sadly for Mark, he had been looking at the ticket with the winning numbers, and not the one he had originally purchased
It comes after reports Lottery scratchcard winners are allegedly being forced to wait more than a month to collect their winnings.
The Swiss company, that took over from Camelot, wants punters to verify their numbers via phone or online and then send their ticket by post for inspection before they receive any cash.
It also wants those claiming money to provide their official ID and photographs of themselves.
Last year, the Post Office ended its group contract with the National Lottery, meaning that around a fifth of branches are expected to stop selling the tickets and scratchcards.
