$1M winning Lotto Max ticket remains unclaimed with deadline approaching

Someone in Burnaby B.C. could be $1 million richer and their deadline to claim the prize is fast approaching.

A $1 million winning Lotto Max ticket was sold in Burnaby on Oct. 30, 2015, but it has not yet been claimed. The deadline to do so will be Oct. 30, 2016. The location where the ticket was sold will not be disclosed as that is part of the verification process.

Winners have one year from the draw date printed on the ticket to claim the prize so lottery players are being encouraged to check their pockets and drawers to see if they are holding the winning ticket.

The B.C. Lottery Corporation (BCLC) says only four major prizes have gone unclaimed in B.C. since 2006 with a total of $534,572.70. All four prizes matched five or more numbers so it was not the grand prize. The unclaimed prizes were $99,318.50 in 2006, $104,534.60 in 2008, $113,807 in 2009 and $219,912.60 in 2016. The BCLC says no top lottery prize in B.C. has ever gone unclaimed.

Last year, a winning $50-million Lotto Max ticket was presented to lottery officials, just days before the one-year deadline to claim the prize was set to expire.

In December, 2014, a woman filed a civil claim in B.C. Supreme Court, claiming her co-worker was hiding the ticket that was part of a workplace pool.

However, the winners, Friedrich Mayrhofer, 67, his wife, Annand, and his son, Eric, tried to stay anonymous and claim the prize, but that’s against British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) rules.