Could you discover you’re one of Australia’s mystery division one winners… just in time for Christmas?

Aussies are being urged to remain vigilant for any old lottery tickets they might find around the home this festive season.

There are currently nine unclaimed division one prizes across Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia worth $8,209,996.95 in total.

Remarkably, six of these nine unclaimed prizes are from entries sold in Queensland (see Table 1 below).

Since these winning tickets were not registered to a player’s card at the time of purchase, the Lott has no way of making an early delivery of Christmas joy by identifying or contacting the mystery winners and uniting them with their prizes.

From old shopping bags and fridge doors, to car gloveboxes and sock drawers, the Lott spokesperson Matt Hart said Australians had a history of storing lottery tickets in weird and wonderful places.

“We’re in the business of paying prizes so we never lose hope of uniting winners with their prizes. Afterall, we’ve had winners happily discover their windfall weeks, months and even years after their win,” he said.

“We’ve had past winners come forward 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.

“Some players have also told us they keep tickets in their underwear drawer or freezer for safe keeping.

“Could you have any old tickets lying around the home or car just waiting to be uncovered as you clean up for Christmas celebrations and the New Year?

“With more than $8.2 million up for grabs nationally, it’s worth checking any old lottery tickets you might come across this festive season!”

The oldest and largest unclaimed division one prize is a Far North Queensland entry that won $2 million in January 2014.  The winning entry was purchased at NewsExtra DFO Cairns.

The most recent unclaimed division one prize is a South Australian entry that won almost $1 million last week.  The winning entry was purchased at Lotteries Kiosk Arndale in Kilkenny.

Mr Hart said the amount of time winners had to claim their prizes varied from state to state.

“New South Wales players have six years to grab their winnings, Queenslanders have seven years, while South Australians have 12 months,” he said.

“If you purchased an entry at any of these outlets during the days and weeks leading up to the draws in question, you could be one of our mystery winners!”

“If you discover you’re the owner of a winning ticket, give us a call as soon as possible on 131 868 to start the prize claim process.”

Mr Hart encouraged anyone buying an entry in the upcoming Saturday Lotto $30 Million Megadraw on Saturday 29 December to register their entries to a player’s card to ensure they didn’t miss out on any winnings.

“The $30 Million Megadraw is the biggest Saturday Lotto event of the year and is famous for creating more millionaires than any other draw. That’s why we expect up to one-in-three Australian adults to have an entry,” he said.

“When you register your entry to a player’s card, you prizes are secure and we can contact you directly with the good news of a big win!”

Tickets can be purchased at any licensed lottery outlet, online from thelott.com or via the Lott mobile app.

Table 1: the Lott’s unclaimed division one prizes

*Editor’s note: This is the draw date, not the entry purchase date.  Entries could have been purchased up to 10 weeks in advance of a draw.

The Lott’s division one winning tally has now reached 175 so far this financial year.

The sign of Australia’s Official Lotteries, the Lott operates and markets Australia’s leading lottery games customers know and love creating everyday winners, winning every day.

In the 12 months to 30 June 2018, 74 million winners took home a total of $2.7 billion in prize money from their favourite games which include Saturday Lotto, Monday and Wednesday Lotto, Powerball, Oz Lotto, Set for Life, Lucky Lotteries, Keno and Instant Scratch-Its.