Des Moines, Iowa — Powerball losers in Iowa were actually winners for about seven hours this week after the state lottery posted incorrect winning numbers for a drawing.
Lottery officials blamed unspecified “human reporting error” for publishing the wrong winning numbers from Monday night’s Powerball drawing. The incorrect numbers were posted on the Iowa Lottery website around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, and it wasn’t until 7:15 a.m. that someone realized the error, removed the numbers and stopped the payout.
The lottery said incorrect starting numbers would have awarded prizes between $4 and $200. The authorities did not specify the number of people who won. All those people who woke up early and cashed the winning ticket with the wrong numbers will be able to keep the money.
Monday night’s Powerball jackpot was about $355 million.
The lottery had to work until 3:30pm on Tuesday to fix its system and resume paying out winning Powerball tickets. Using the correct numbers, 3,998 people who bought Powerball tickets in Iowa also won prizes ranging from $4 to $200.
The actual winning numbers for Monday night’s Powerball drawing were 2-21-38-61-66 and Powerball 12.
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