Deadline passes for €6 million Lotto winner

The winner of more than €6.1 million in the National Lottery draw of 26 March has not come forward. The customer had until midnight last Friday to make their claim on the winnings.

The winning ticket was sold in the Brussels area, the National Lottery revealed – a piece of information kept back from the public until now. “Fortune seekers who tried to claim the prize often slipped up when it came to the question of where exactly they had bought the ticket,” said Lottery spokesperson Kiki Vervloessem.

After the Lottery announced it was looking for the mystery player, more than 1,000 calls came in from people either seeking more details or pretending to be the winner. None was able to make a satisfactory case.

This is the second time a major win in Belgium’s lottery has gone unclaimed. In December 2008, the prize was €1 million. However, smaller amounts go more often unclaimed. In the last four years, players have left behind a pot of some €23.6 million.

“Such as the scratch card you get for your birthday, which pays out two euros,” Vervloessem said. “If you add them all up, you soon come to a major amount.”