I thought I had won £11 million on the lottery when I drew my numbers… but I made a disastrous mistake

A man thought he had won £11million on the lottery when his numbers were drawn but was left with nothing after he made a catastrophic mistake.

Mark Fletcher, 49, from Wigan, Greater Manchester, was overjoyed when he checked his Lotto app and discovered he had matched all six numbers.

The Lottery app appeared to confirm the huge cash win by pointing out a “winning match” between the numbers drawn and Mr Fletcher’s numbers, which were highlighted in red on the screen.

Believing he had won a huge sum, Mark contacted Lotto – only to find out his winnings were zero because he had misunderstood key information.

Unfortunately, it turned out that Mark was looking at the ticket with the winning numbers, not the one he originally purchased.

He told Wigan Today: “I was a bit shocked when I checked the numbers and they were right.

“However, when I called to check, I was on the phone for 45 minutes and the woman was adamant that I was not the winner.

So I asked why the app informed me that I had won and if it was the app’s fault. They also denied any wrongdoing.

Mark also claimed that after contacting the Lotto team, the company showed him no “sympathy.”

He added: “I felt like I was being given a lie detector test. She kept saying, ‘You didn’t buy that ticket, did you, Mark?’

“When people play Lotto, they think it’s a trustworthy service, but now I have my doubts. They showed me no empathy.

“It had an effect on me – I was thinking about what ifs. If they told me I had won when I hadn’t really won anything, it was a bit cruel and I had sleepless nights.”

A spokesperson for Lotto operator Allwyn said: “Players can select any set of ‘my numbers’, save them to their account in the app and then check them in the app against the results of previous draws.

“This has nothing to do with whether the player actually played those numbers or not – and in this case, the player did not play that set of six numbers via their online account for the June 29 draw, or in any draw prior to the June 29 draw.”

The move comes after reports that lottery scratch card winners are allegedly being forced to wait more than a month to collect their winnings.

The Swiss company, which took over the business from Camelot, wants players to verify their numbers by phone or online and then send the coupons in the mail for checking before they receive their cash.

It also demands that those applying for money present official identification and photographs of themselves.

Last year the Post Office ended its relationship with the National Lottery, meaning around a fifth of its branches are likely to stop selling tickets and scratch cards.