Top 6 Largest Unclaimed Lottery Tickets Of All Time

The biggest unclaimed lotto tickets belong to the EuroMillions, Powerball, Mega Millions and SuperLotto Plus. Here you will find just how big those winnings were and how you can avoid losing your winnings when you win.

It’s been said that our biggest nightmare is public speaking… standing in front hundreds of people exposed and vulnerable. On the same theme, most of us have had a dream where suddenly we find ourselves naked and exposed in public.

Could there be anything worse?

I think so! Let me explain. I think it would be much worse to find out publicly that your lotto ticket won, but because you didn’t realise, your chance to collect the prize expired. Yes, lotto tickets do expire. Yikes!

Giant Lottos is a service that ensures players from around the world never experience such an embarrassment. Giant keeps your tickets safe so you’ll never have to fear them getting destroyed or simply lost. We’ll also send you notifications when you win so that when life gets busy and your responsibilities are many, you’ll never be late to claim your winnings.

Which begs the question.

What are the Largest Unclaimed Lotto Tickets of All Time?

Collectively it is estimated that over $100 million goes unclaimed everyday from various lottery games around the world. This number is mostly made up by accumulated lower tier prizes as most jackpots are claimed immediately.

The main reasons people let their lottery winnings go unclaimed are that they forget they bought tickets, they lose their tickets or the tickets are stolen. Some people will even forfeit smaller winnings because they do not believe it is worth the effort of going to the shops to claim.

But occasionally those big multi-millions jackpots do go unclaimed. Read below for the biggest unclaimed jackpots from around the world.

EuroMillions - £64 million - Hertfordshire, U.K.

This draw took place on the 8th of June in 2012 and remains the largest unclaimed EuroMillions jackpot ever. The lottery operator made multiple pleas to the public, including a billboard campaign, to check their tickets in the hopes the winner would come forward.

After the 180 day deadline a spokesperson for the National Lottery said: "Unfortunately, I can confirm that the ticket-holder did not come forward within the deadline to claim their prize and has now sadly missed out on this staggering amount of money.

The prize money along with the interest it generated went toward funding charities across the United Kingdom.

Powerball - $77 million – Georgia, U.S.

This draw took place in June 2011, and nobody came forward to claim the prize within the 180 day deadline. The unknown winner matched all five lucky numbers and the Powerball number to win the jackpot.

The ticket was sold at a Pilot Travel Centre in Tallapoosa, Georgia; where they displayed a sign informing people that a jackpot winning ticket had been sold there and urged those who had bought tickets to double-check their numbers.

The winnings then went back into the upcoming USA Powerball prize pool and was ultimately won in subsequent draws.

Mega Millions - $68 million – New York, U.S.

This winning ticket was sold in the Queens borough in New York in December 2002. Unfortunately, nobody would come forward within the 180 day window with the winning ticket and the prize was forfeited.

But there's another twist to this story. After the 180 deadline was passed a man by the name of Fritzner Bechette came forward and asserted that he was the winner and had lost his ticket in a "non-retrievable situation."

We filed a lawsuit against the New York State Lottery for $68 million plus the interest the jackpot would have accumulated. After a lengthy investigation and court battle Fritzner had his case dismissed, and his appeal was also ultimately thrown out and he walked away with nothing.

SuperLotto Plus - $63 million – California, U.S.

This California winner bought their ticket from a shop In Chatsworth in August 2016. And like the story above, someone did come forward with a ticket claiming it was the winning one.

Brandy Miller sent in his winning ticket a few months before the deadline and initially received a letter of congratulations. But soon after he received another letter informing him that he would not be receiving the payout because the ticket had been too badly damaged.

After a lengthy investigation it was established that the ticket submitted by Miller was not the winning ticket, had been bought from a different shop and hasn't for the same draw that he was trying to claim the winnings for.

Even though nobody claimed this jackpot, Miller maintains to this day that he was the rightful winner.

Powerball - $51.7 million – Indiana, U.S.

A September 2003 draw of the USA Powerball declared a single winner for the $51.7 million jackpot, but nobody came forward with the winning ticket.

The jackpot for this draw was split between two winners with $51.7 million each. The first winner came forward instantly while the second did not produce the winning ticket in time and the prize was not claimed.

Leading up to the deadline the Indiana Lottery Commission aired adverts on television, printed in newspapers and even hired out a billboard informing people that nobody had come forward to claim the prize.

Ultimately nobody produced the winning ticket before the deadline, and the prize money went back into the prize pool for the upcoming Powerball draws.

Mega Millions - $46 million – New York, U.S.

This draw took place on the 25th of April, 2006 and the winning ticket was sold in Brooklyn, New York. After this prize went unclaimed at the 180 day deadline, it meant that the state of New York had the most unclaimed lottery winnings in the entire US.

The $46 million went back into the Mega Millions prize pool and added to the overall value of the next jackpot payout.

How Billions In Lottery Winnings Are Still Going Unclaimed

You may have seen the above jackpots and are wondering to yourself; "how does so much lottery winnings go unclaimed?" There are a few explanations as to why the winners may not always collect their winnings.

Damaged or defaced tickets
Lost lottery tickets
Forgot they bought tickets or forget to watch the draw
Winnings are too small to bother to collect

Due to the above factors it is estimated that over $1 billion goes unclaimed each year from lottery games around the world. How can you make sure you never miss collecting your life-changing jackpot payout?

Buy your lottery tickets online and NEVER miss a payout again!

When you buy your lottery tickets at Giant Lottos everything is done for you; we play the tickets and lucky numbers that you have chosen, and all your winnings are automatically paid into your online account.

You never have to stand in queues to buy your tickets or collect your winnings; just decide which lotteries you would like to play, pick your numbers and we'll do everything else.

We play the tickets, we facilitate the payout, all you need to do is plan on how you will spend your winnings!