29 People Who Won First Prize in Lotto but Didn't Claim It... Average 2.1 Billion Won

287 Unclaimed Second Prize Winners

It has been revealed that 29 people who won the 'Lotto 1st prize' with winnings amounting to tens of billions of won have not claimed their prize money. The total unclaimed amount for these individuals reached 60.9 billion won, averaging 2.1 billion won per person.

On the 26th, KBS reported that after analyzing data on unclaimed Lotto winnings over the past 10 years through the Lottery Commission under the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the lottery sales operator Donghaeng Lottery, these results were found.

The statute of limitations for claiming lottery winnings is one year from the date the prize payment begins. Money not claimed within this period is transferred to the lottery fund. After this, no matter how much the winner asserts ownership, it will not be accepted.

The reasons why 29 people did not claim their winnings remain unknown. The industry estimates that cases such as simple forgetfulness or loss of the lottery ticket are not uncommon. It is possible that most of these 29 people did not even realize they were the 1st prize Lotto winners.

However, there are cases where winners dramatically appear to claim their prizes. In June, Donghaeng Lottery announced, "The 1st prize winnings for the 1024th Lotto draw held on July 16 last year were unclaimed," urging winners to claim within the deadline. On the last day of the prize payment period, a winner appeared at the NongHyup Bank headquarters in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. He received 3,020,323,500 won in winnings.

There are even more unclaimed 2nd prize Lotto winnings. Over the past 10 years, 287 people did not claim their prizes, which were transferred to the fund. The total amount reached 15.6 billion won.

Over the past 10 years, the total amount of unclaimed Lotto winnings transferred to the fund has been calculated at 449.8 billion won. The largest amount of unclaimed money was from the 5th prize, which is 5,000 won. It accounted for 65.6% of the total unclaimed amount.

1st Prize Winnings Can Only Be Claimed at NongHyup Bank Headquarters

Lotto 1st prize winnings must be claimed within one year from the start date of payment. Lotto 1st prize winnings can only be claimed at the NongHyup Bank headquarters. Prize money that expires is fully transferred to the lottery fund according to the Lottery and Lottery Fund Act. The lottery fund is used for various public interest projects such as housing stability projects for low-income individuals, scholarship programs, and cultural heritage protection projects.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.