"10 First-Prize Lottery Tickets Issued as 200 Due to Bank of Japan Error, Winnings Paid as Is"

Lottery 1st Prize Set to 200 Tickets, 6th Prize to 10 Tickets
Confirmed as System Error

A major Japanese bank set the number of first-prize winners for an online lottery at 20 times the original amount. The bank immediately stopped issuing the lottery upon discovering this, but decided to pay out the prizes for the already confirmed winning tickets.

[Image source=Pixabay]

Local media, including the Yomiuri Shimbun, reported that an error occurred in the first-prize count for "Quick One," an internet-only lottery operated by Mizuho Bank, one of Japan's major banks. The bank had originally set the number of first-prize winners at 10 tickets, but due to a system error, it was set to 200 tickets, 20 times more.

Additionally, the second prize of 200 tickets was set to 2,000 tickets, 10 times more than intended, and the third prize of 2,000 tickets was set to 20,000 tickets. Conversely, the sixth prize, which has the smallest prize amount, was set to 10 tickets instead of 400,000. The prize amounts are 2 million yen (approximately 18 million KRW) for first prize, 100,000 yen (approximately 900,000 KRW) for second prize, and 10,000 yen (approximately 90,000 KRW) for third prize.

As inquiries from customers continued, the bank suspended lottery sales. However, 27 first-prize winning tickets had already been confirmed, and the bank stated it would pay the prizes as planned. The cause of the system error has not yet been disclosed.

Local netizens expressed various reactions such as "The sixth prize is harder to win than the first prize," "I'm jealous of those who won first prize," and "I wish I could turn back time and buy one too." The bank apologized for the inconvenience caused to customers and pledged to take measures to prevent recurrence.