For a fleeting 15 minutes, Ole Fredrik Sveen believed his life had changed forever, only for a devastating administrative error to snatch away a six-figure lottery win.
A Dream of Freedom on a Greek Holiday
The Norwegian culinary teacher, an occasional lottery player, was enjoying a sunset in Greece with his girlfriend in June when his phone buzzed. A text message from Norsk Tipping, the national lottery operator, delivered stunning news: he had won big on the Eurojackpot.
"My heart skipped a beat. I felt quite light-headed," Sveen recalls. "Finally, the moment I had dreamed of had arrived." Logging into the app, he saw a notification stating he had won 1.3 million Norwegian kroner, equivalent to roughly £97,000.
Immediately, dreams of freedom from his job, paying off debts, and even buying a holiday home in Greece—a topic of conversation earlier that very day—flooded his mind. He shared the news with his girlfriend, who gasped, and called his mother, who laughed and told him he was "due some luck."
The Crushing Reality of a Decimal Point Error
The euphoria was tragically short-lived. A growing sense of unease led Sveen to double-check the winning numbers against his ticket. He had only matched two main numbers and one bonus number. "My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach," he said.
He soon discovered the truth through emerging news reports. Norsk Tipping had made a catastrophic mistake in its system. When converting prize money from euros to Norwegian kroner, the figures had been multiplied by 100 instead of divided by 100.
Instead of a life-changing sum, Sveen's actual winnings were a modest 100 kroner (about £10), merely covering the cost of his ticket. He was one of thousands of players who received the erroneous, heart-stopping notification.
Aftermath: Disappointment and a Tainted Dream
The emotional fallout was immediate and severe. Sveen's girlfriend broke down in tears. He had to make the difficult call back to his mother to retract the news. The wonderful holiday was abruptly overshadowed by a "crushing disappointment."
"You can’t miss what you never had, but we felt so angry they could get people’s hopes up like that," he stated. He was further annoyed that the lottery company took days to formally confirm the error and apologise, leaving him in a prolonged state of uncertainty.
The incident had a lasting impact. The CEO of Norsk Tipping resigned over the blunder, albeit with a severance package Sveen found bitterly ironic: 3 million kroner (£225,000)—more than his false win.
For Sveen, the lottery itself is now "tainted." He no longer plays, concluding wryly that he must be "lucky in love" instead. While the Greek holiday home remains a pipe dream, he and his girlfriend agree that their real-world relationship is the greater prize—even if it arrived with one of life's most cruel false dawns.
