A lottery ticket worth $70 million is set to expire today without anyone coming forward, despite a massive campaign by competition organizers to find the winner.
The ticket was drawn in June 2022 and has yet to be claimed, according to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG). It was sold in Scarborough.
Lottery organizers issued a plea for the winner to come forward in May, warning if they didn’t, the $70 million Lotto Max winnings would go back into the general pot and be put towards future prizes and promotions.
“It is somebody’s money. It’s not our money, somebody won this money,” OLG spokesperson Tony Bitonti previously said.
“We want to pay the rightful owner of this ticket, whether you have the ticket in hand, or you don’t have the ticket, if it’s lost.”
The OLG said the winning numbers for the June 28, 2022, Lotto Max draw are 8, 19, 22, 41, 42, 46, 47 Bonus 10.
Despite the plea, and thousands of hopefuls calling the OLG about the ticket, it remained unclaimed on Wednesday morning as the deadline approached. The OLG said it received 800 calls about lost tickets and more than 1,800 calls asking about the jackpot, but none were the winner.
“We are reviewing a few more calls and will have a definitive answer as to whether the ticket is claimed before the expiry or goes unclaimed on Thursday,” the OLG said.
In a previous interview with Global News, Bitonti said if the winner doesn’t come forward, it will become the largest unclaimed prize in Canadian lottery history, surpassing a $15-million Lotto Max win from an August 2021 draw that was never claimed.
The ticket is set to expire at 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 28.
“We are still hoping that the rightful owner of the ticket comes forward before tomorrow’s expiry,” the OLG told Global News.
If someone believes they bought the winning ticket, they’re encouraged to contact the OLG at 1-800-387-0098.
— with files from Global News’ Hannah Jackson and Ryan Rocca