Over W2.7b in unclaimed lottery prizes await owners

More than 2.7 billion won ($1.99 million) in unclaimed first- and second-prize lottery winnings is set to expire within three months, according to data released Friday.

An analysis of unclaimed prize data published by Dong Haeng Lottery, the state-designated lottery operator, shows that high-value first- and second-prize winnings from Lotto drawings set to expire between Sept. 28 and Dec. 14 total 2.72 billion won.

Unclaimed prizes refer to winnings that have not yet been collected despite the payment deadline remaining open. Winners have one year from the start of the payout period to claim their prizes. Any amount left uncollected after that deadline is transferred to the lottery fund under the Lottery and Lottery Fund Act and used for public-interest projects.

Dong Haeng Lottery introduced an automatic payout service starting with drawing No. 1238, under which winners who register a retail-purchased ticket on a mobile app receive any unclaimed prize automatically by the deadline. The prizes currently at risk of expiring — from drawings 1191 through 1202 — predate that service and are not covered by it.

The most immediately pressing unclaimed amount is 69.83 million won. Two second-prize winners from drawing No. 1191 have each left 34.91 million won uncollected, with the deadline falling Monday.

Next month, second-prize deadlines arrive in succession for drawings 1192, 1194 and 1195, with unclaimed amounts of 54.92 million won, 46.43 million won and 56.96 million won, respectively — totaling 158.32 million won.

Particularly notable is a first-prize jackpot of more than 2 billion won expiring in November. A single first-prize winner from drawing No. 1196, drawn Nov. 1 last year, has yet to collect 2 billion won from a ticket sold in Gyeonggi Province. The deadline is Nov. 2.

From the same drawing, second-prize winnings of 53.23 million won each from Seoul and South Chungcheong Province also remain unclaimed. Combined first- and second-prize unclaimed amounts from drawing No. 1196 alone reach 2.11 billion won.

Other November deadlines cover second-prize winnings from drawings 1198, 1199 and 1200 — 63.11 million won, 64.05 million won and 117.86 million won, due by Nov. 16, Nov. 23 and Nov. 30, respectively.

In December, second-prize deadlines arrive for drawings 1201 and 1202. The 53.32 million won from drawing No. 1201 must be claimed by Dec. 7, and the 82.21 million won from drawing No. 1202 by Dec. 14. For drawing No. 1202, one winner each in South Chungcheong Province and South Gyeongsang Province has left 41.1 million won uncollected.

Meanwhile, total unclaimed Lotto prize money last year reached 58.1 billion won ($42.7 million). The bulk of that came from fourth-prize (50,000 won) and fifth-prize (5,000 won) winners.

In response, a new service launched in mid-August allows winners who register retail-purchased tickets on a mobile app to receive prize notifications after each drawing and have unclaimed winnings deposited automatically on the deadline date. However, physical ticket holders take priority for payment. Even if a ticket has been registered on a mobile app, if a third party presents the physical ticket first and collects the prize, the person who registered it digitally will not receive the winnings.