In Victoria, division one winners have six months to claim their prize directly from Tatts. After this time, the prize can be claimed indefinitely from the Victorian State Revenue Office.
With exactly one month left for the $4.8 million Set for Life prize to be claimed directly from Tatts, today Echuca’s division one winner came forward holding the winning ticket.
The elusive winner held the only division one winning entry nationally in Set for Life draw 1996, drawn Friday 22 January 2021. They take home a prize of $4.8 million, paid in instalments of $20,000 a month for 20 years.
However, the winning entry was unregistered, which meant officials from The Lott had no way of contacting the winner to break the life-changing news. Instead, they had to wait for the ticketholder to come forward and claim their prize.
In Victoria, division one winners have six months to claim their prize directly from Tatts. After this time, the prize can be claimed indefinitely from the Victorian State Revenue Office.
Today, the winner finally came forward and claimed their prize, bringing to a close five months of speculation as to the whereabouts of the winner.
But exactly who the winner is and how they plan to enjoy their prize will forever be a mystery as they have chosen to remain completely anonymous and celebrate in private.
The winning Set for Life entry was purchased from Echuca Square Lotto, 26 Nish Street, Echuca.
Echuca Square Lotto co-owner Gavin Sullivan said he couldn’t be happier to hear his division one winner had finally discovered the exciting news.
“That is absolutely fantastic news! That has made my day,” he said.
“Lately, we have had so many people coming in to check their tickets after seeing so much about the mystery winner on the news.
“So many people hoped they were our division one winner, so we couldn’t be happier to hear the winner has now claimed their prize.
“We are thrilled for them and would love to send our congratulations.
“We hope they are enjoying being a lottery winner!”
The Lott spokesperson Ally Ramsamy said she couldn’t help but think recent extensive media coverage helped track down the mystery winner.
“We’re in the business of paying prizes so we are thrilled to finally deliver this multi-million dollar win to the rightful owner,” she said.
“We’ve been on the hunt for the mystery winner for five months now, and there has been extensive media coverage hoping to track them down. We have no doubt this helped unite this winner with their prize.
“But while we may never know who the winner is, or what took them so long to claim their prize, we are glad they can finally enjoy being Set for Life.
“This is a great reminder of how important it is for players to register their tickets to a player card or online account. This means their prize is secure and we can contact them directly if they win a major prize.
“If our winner had registered their ticket, they might have been enjoying their lottery win five months ago.”
The winning numbers in Set for Life draw 1996 on Friday 22 January 2021 were 8, 35, 23, 30, 41, 34 and 16, while the supplementary numbers were 40 and 6.
Across Australia, there was one division one winning entry in Set for Life draw 1996 – one from Victoria.
There have been 78 Set for Life division one winners nationally since the game began.
The Lott’s division one winning tally has now reached 215 so far this calendar year, including 82 won by Tatts customers.
In 2020, there were 16 Set for Life division one winners across Australia who will receive $76.8 million during the next 20 years.
By the end of 2020, $44.88 million in monthly payments of $20,000 had been paid to the 70 Set for Life division one winners across Australia.
More chances to win
There are more chances to win big with next Tuesday’s Oz Lotto offering $5 million, while Thursday’s Powerball has $40 million up for grabs.
Tonight’s Set for Life draw offers players the chance to win a division one prize of $20,000 a month for 20 years – that’s $20K on Replay! Set for Life is the only game that allows you to play your numbers across seven consecutive daily draws – meaning you have the chance to win $20K on Replay every day of the week.
The Lucky Lotteries Mega Jackpot prize is now $1.48 million for draw 1537, while the Lucky Lotteries Super Jackpot prize is now $6.74 million for draw 10474.
Tickets can be purchased at any licenced lottery outlet, online from thelott.com or via The Lott mobile app.
The home 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.
