‘Memory Jog’ Held in Brunswick
The unregistered winning ticket matched the numbers 5, 7, 11, 32, 34 and 38 plus Powerball 12 in the Australia Powerball draw on Thursday 11th January. The ticket was purchased on the day of the draw five months ago from Scole Lotto and News in Barkley Square, Brunswick, Melbourne.
Australia Powerball have held a ‘Memory Jog’ in the surrounding Brunswick area to encourage local members of the public to double-check their coat pockets, homes and cars just in case they were the mysterious ticket holder. The event had branded t-shirts, in-store signs promoting the news, and joggers running up and down streets with signs on their back.
Matt Hart, an Australia Powerball spokesman, said “Our message to anyone out there thinking it couldn’t be them – it really could be you. You could be our multi-millionaire and you just need to check your tickets. Each day during the last five months we’ve been asking ourselves, is today the day the winning ticket is presented?
“In previous cases where people have come forward weeks, months and even years after the draw to finally claim their prize, they’ve told us the winning ticket was hiding in plain sight the whole time — in their wallet or purse, on the fridge, or just lying around in a draw.”
Newsagents Inundated With Fake Winning Claims
Sam Misiano, the owner of the Scole Lotto and News store, said the search for the winner has been ‘so good for business’ and jokingly added he hoped the winner would share the jackpot with him. “We’re selling about three times as many tickets as before we sold that winning ticket. I just can’t wait for the winner to come forward and get the party started”, he said. However, the newsagents have also had several random customers come into the store to try and wrongfully claim the prize.
Misiano said: “I’ve heard some of the strangest stories. Just on and on and on. When is it going to end? Just when you thought you’d heard every excuse under the sun? Well wait, there’s more. One woman said she was cheating on her husband, and the husband knew she had a winning ticket, so he took the ticket off her. Someone said they sold the car with the winning ticket inside and the car got written off.”
The winnings will be given to Victoria’s State Revenue Office for safe-keeping if the six-month deadline passes without any success, however, under Victorian laws, the winnings will still be paid out to the winner if they come forward after the deadline.
Get in touch with any of your family, friends of work colleagues if you believe they may be the person Australia Powerball are after!
