US man sues lottery firm over $340 million jackpot denial due to website ‘mistake’

A man in Washington DC has filed a lawsuit against Powerball, an American lottery game company, and the DC Lottery for refusing to pay him a “life-changing jackpot” worth USD340 million despite his claim that he saw the winning numbers on the latter’s website. But the company said that the numbers were not official but a website error.

According to his complaint, John Cheeks purchased a Powerball ticket on January 6 last year when the jackpot rose to the USD340 million prize and used the birthdates of his family members for his personal combination of numbers.

Cheeks claimed that he missed Powerball’s live draw on January 7, 2023, but he checked DC Lottery’s website the following day for the results and saw the winning numbers flashed on his laptop screen.

He said that he took a picture, called a friend and went to sleep.

According to the complaint, the DC Lottery website flashed the man’s winning numbers for three days.

But the numbers posted on the website differed from those that were pulled out during Powerball’s live draw.

Cheeks further claimed that his mega prize was denied when he tried to redeem the ticket at a retailer. The same fate awaited him when he visited the DC Office of Lottery and Gaming prize centre, where he was informed that he was not the winner.

Since then, he has put the ticket in a safety deposit box.

A lawyer for Creeks said the digital advertising company which manages DC Lottery’s website made the “mistake” and posted the wrong numbers.

The jackpot increased to USD754.6 million, which was later claimed by a ticket holder also in Washington.