Five months since the winning numbers were drawn, Australia’s biggest lottery mystery remains unsolved: who holds the ticket that won the $55 million Powerball jackpot and why haven’t they claimed their prize?
In one last effort to unite the winner with their multi-million dollar prize, Powerball is today hosting a Memory Jog on Melbourne’s streets as a final reminder for local residents and visitors to check their tickets.
The winning entry, purchased from Scole Lotto & News in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick, was unregistered so Powerball is imploring everyone to search for lottery tickets around their home, car and workplace.
The elusive winner has just one more month to claim their huge prize directly from Tatts. After this time, the prize goes to the Victorian State Revenue Office, where the winner can claim the prize indefinitely.
While the unclaimed $55 million Powerball prize had received widespread attention across Australia, Powerball spokesperson Matt Hart said they had yet to hear from the winning ticketholder.
“It has now been 154 days since one elusive ticket holder won this massive $55 million prize and throughout that time we have been eagerly waiting to unite the winner with their Powerball windfall. Each day during the past five months we’ve been asking ourselves – is today the day the winning ticket is presented?,” he said.
“Today, we’re hosting a Memory Jog around the streets where the winning entry was sold in the hope that seeing our team running around Barkly Square and Brunswick spurs players to hunt for old unchecked lottery tickets.
“In previous cases where people have come forward weeks, months and even years after the draw to finally claim their prize, they’ve told us the winning ticket was hiding in plain sight the whole time – in their wallet or purse, on the fridge, or just lying around in a draw.
“Our message to anyone out there thinking it couldn’t be them – it really could be you. You could be our multi-millionaire and you just need to check your tickets.”
People can check their tickets by visiting a licenced lottery outlet, online at thelott.com or via the Lott app.
The unregistered division one winning Powerball entry was sold at Scole Lotto & News, Shop 6, Barkly Square, 90-106 Sydney Road, Brunswick.
The Melbourne entry was the only division one winning entry in Powerball draw 1130 on Thursday 11 January 2018, which offered a $55 million jackpot – the highest Australian lottery jackpot in more than 12 months.
Mr Hart said Powerball hadn’t given up hope of finding the unknowing winner and delivering the dream-come-true windfall before the prize passed to the Victorian State Revenue Office.
“This unsolved case is a great reminder to everyone about the importance of registering your lottery tickets to a player’s card. This means your prize is secure and we can contacted directly with the good news of a big win.”
The winning numbers in Powerball draw 1130 on Thursday 11 January 2018 were 32, 7, 5, 34, 38 and 11, while the all-important Powerball number was 12.
