Iowa Lottery’s Powerball Numbers Mistake Creates False Winners

Lady Luck smiled on some lottery losers in Iowa this week when the wrong numbers for Monday night’s Powerball drawing were mistakenly posted and remained live on the statewide gaming system and Iowa Lottery website for several hours the following morning. The error led to the suspension of ticket cashing and checking, as officials rushed to correct the mistake. The correct numbers were announced later that day, and prize distribution resumed.

The actual winning numbers from the drawing were 2-21-38-61-66 and Powerball 12, and a total of 3,998 people won prizes ranging from $4 to $200, totaling $24,382.

The Iowa Lottery issued an apology for the disruption, attributing the mix-up to a “human reporting error.” Those who cashed in a phony winning ticket due to the mistake will be allowed to keep the money. However, nobody claimed the top prize of $355 million, and prizes for the incorrect numbers also fell between $4 and $200.

The error only affected the Powerball drawing, and the Iowa Lottery assured that no other lottery drawings were affected. This year alone, Iowa has seen eight prizes of at least $1 million, some of which remain unclaimed.