24 February 22

Get ready to go bananas, Coffs Harbour region! There’s a mystery $60 million Powerball winner on the loose

Powerball
SNAPSHOT
  • A mystery player from New South Wales and a Western Australian have shared the second biggest jackpot in Australian lottery history, with each scoring more than $60 million.
  • There were two division one winning entries nationally in Powerball draw 1345 on Thursday 24 February 2022. Each division one winning entry scored $63,309,056.98.
  • The New South Wales entry was purchased from a NSW Lotteries outlet in the Coffs Harbour region.
  • However, as the entry was not registered to a player card, officials from The Lott have no way of contacting the winner. Instead, they’re eagerly waiting for the ticketholder to check their ticket and make contact to start the prize claim process.
  • Western Australian lottery operator Lotterywest will be liaising with the Western Australian division one winner.

By Anna Hobdell

Updated 25 February 2022 - 6:39 am,

first published at 24 February 2022 - 10:04 pm

Footage of tonight’s Powerball draw is available here

Editor’s note: To allow time for the winner to come forward in private, the specific outlet where the winning ticket was sold won’t be released until 9am on Saturday morning (unless the winner comes forward beforehand).

 

It’s possible a Powerball player from the Coffs Harbour region is ending the week oblivious to the fact they’ve just scored more than $60 million in tonight’s Powerball draw.

The New South Wales entry was one of the two division one winning entries nationally in Powerball draw 1345 on Thursday 24 February 2022. Each division one winning entry scored $63,309,056.98.

The division one prize pool in tonight’s draw was boosted to a phenomenal $126,618,113.96 due to the number of entries purchased in tonight’s draw.

The New South Wales multi-million-dollar winning entry was not registered to a player card, which means officials from The Lott have no way of contacting the winner. Instead, they’re eagerly waiting for the ticketholder to check their ticket and make contact to start the prize claim process.

Officials from The Lott are urging any resident or visitor who purchased an entry into tonight’s Powerball draw from a NSW Lotteries outlet in the Coffs Harbour region to check their ticket immediately.

In addition to the two division one winners in tonight’s draw, there were 36 division two winners who shared more than $2.7 million, receiving $77,385.90 each. There were also 5,558,090 winners in divisions two to nine who collected $100,574,184.70 in prizes.

The Lott spokesperson Ally Ramsamy said a New South Wales player could be ending their working week as one of Australia’s newest multi-millionaires.

“Someone could be in store for a life-changing Friday, but first they need to check their ticket and discover they’re now more than $60 million richer,” she said.

“We’re urging all players who purchased a Powerball ticket from an outlet in the Coffs Harbour region to check their tickets!

“Previous winners have kept their winning lottery tickets in their wallet, handbag, on the fridge door or in the car glovebox.

“If you discover you are holding this winning New South Wales ticket, contact The Lott on 131 868 to begin the process of claiming your prize.”

Western Australian lottery operator Lotterywest will be liaising with the Western Australian division one winner from tonight’s draw.

There have now been three Powerball division one winning entries across Australia so far in 2022 that have scored more than $200 million.

The winning numbers in Powerball draw 1345 on Thursday 24 February 2022 were 6, 15, 9, 27, 32, 28, 33. The all-important Powerball number was 8.

The Lott’s division one winning tally has now reached 294 so far this financial year, including 97 won by NSW Lotteries customers.

In 2021, 14 Powerball division one winners across Australia pocketed more than $550.1 million in prize money.

During this time, Powerball offered an $80 million jackpot three times – the biggest prize offered by any Australian lottery game during the year.

Of the 14 Powerball division one winning entries in 2021, seven landed in New South Wales, four in Queensland, two in Victoria and one in Western Australia.