A winning lottery ticket sold from Good Fortune Lottery Centre in Maddington remains unclaimed, with only a few weeks left to redeem the $2.5 million prize before it expires.
The winner of the Saturday Lotto ticket from the draw held on September 2, 2023, has until September 2 this year, 12 months from the draw date, to come forward and claim the prize.
Owner of Good Fortune Lottery Centre, Ushan Iddamalgoda, is urging his customers to triple-check their tickets purchased from the store and ensure they haven’t unknowingly won the $2.5 million prize.
“If you or someone you know has bought a ticket from Good Fortune Lottery Centre, please ask them to check their tickets and search in all their keep-safe spots,” Mr Iddamalgoda said.
“We have been waiting close to a year to celebrate this life-changing news for one of our customers, but time is running out.”
Mr Iddamalgoda has already noticed a significant increase in customers visiting the store to verify their tickets.
“I’ve had lots of people already come into the stores, double checking their tickets, hoping they have the winner, he said.”
“People are going through their suitcases, cupboards and everything to find their ticket.”
Lotterywest spokesperson James Mooney explains that, since the ticket is unregistered, they are unable to contact the winner.
“We usually see Division One winners come to Lotterywest HQ to claim their prize the following day, maybe a week or two, but close to a year is unusual,” he said.
“We hope the winner comes forward soon, but the special thing about Lotterywest being State Government owned and operated is we can return unclaimed prizes back to the WA community.”
In its 2022-23 annual report, Lotterywest reported that over $13 million in unclaimed prizes were forfeited, over three times the amount reported for 2021-22.
Any unclaimed lottery prizes are redirected back to the WA community through grants from Lotterywest.
