Lotto winner claims $500k prize a year after losing ticket, ASB bank enlisted to track down punter

The Lotto player says she and her husband can now save for a better life.

Lotto has turned detective and enlisted the help of a bank to give $500,000 to a woman who lost her winning ticket.

The $500,000 First Division prize was purchased at Pak‘nSave Mt Albert last June.

Time was running out for the prize to be claimed, as customers have 12 months to cash in the winnings.

With the deadline approaching Lotto got creative in their search and began searching for clues.

Lotto head of corporate communications Will Hine said all they had to go off was that the ticket was purchased with an ASB card.

“We had electronic details of the transaction but no idea who the card actually belonged to, because that information isn’t visible to retailers,” said Hine.

“We knew ASB would be unable to give us their customer’s details for privacy reasons, so instead asked them to pass on a confidential message to their customer that they might want to contact the Lotto NZ winner’s team.”

ASB got hold of the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, and told her to get in touch with Lotto.

As the ticket had been lost, Lotto went through an extensive process to determine if the woman did indeed buy the ticket, including examining the customer’s purchasing history.

It concluded that she had bought the winning ticket, and paid the $500,000 prize just before the prize’s 12-month expiration date.

The woman was shocked to be given the prize after losing her ticket.

“In the country I grew up in you would have to have a lottery ticket to claim a prize and I realised I must have lost my one,” she said.

“So I didn’t think we’d get given the prize.”

The woman says she and her husband are planning to use some of the money to bring family members to New Zealand for a holiday, highlighting Queenstown and Rotorua as dream destinations.

“We want to take them to see the snow this winter,” she said.

“When I got the news about being paid out, I couldn’t sleep. This money means we can save for a better life for ourselves and our family.

“We’re incredibly happy.”

Hine says they were pleased to have tracked down the customer.

“We were absolutely delighted we were able to pay this customer her prize,” said Hine.

“She was quite emotional when we met up with her and her husband was over the moon as well.

“While any prize money that is unclaimed after 12 months goes back to our wider pool of money for future prize promotions, obviously we always prefer that it reaches the rightful winner where possible.

“If we get sufficient information that allows us to be sure we’ve found the correct winner, then a prize will be paid.”

Lotto advises players who purchase physical tickets to write their name on the back of it.

Lotto’s hefty $15 million prize was not struck on Saturday, with the jackpot increasing to $17 million.

New Zealand has had nine major Powerball wins so far this year.

Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.