Ontario woman denied lottery jackpot after forgetting where she bought ticket

When an Ontario woman found out she won the lottery playing Lotto 649, she said she was excited to collect her prize of $1,003, but that excitement quickly turned to frustration when she couldn’t collect her winnings.

Heather Douglas of Ajax does a lot of travelling across Ontario for volunteer work and says no matter what city or town she’s in, when she’s filling up her gas tank, she’ll often buy lottery tickets.

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“I do volunteer work and travel all over Ontario, so whenever I’m in a store whether it’s in Mississauga, Richmond Hill or Oshawa, I will buy lottery tickets,” said Douglas.

Douglas said she bought a 649 ticket in August of last year but said it had been tucked away and she only checked in this past March and was excited to see she had won $1,003.

“I felt great, I thought those commercials are right even though it was only $1,000 I can buy something I want,” said Douglas.

Douglas said due to her busy schedule she only tried to collect her winnings in June, but officials at Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) told her to collect her money she would need to tell them where she purchased the ticket, something she couldn’t remember.

“There are no signs anywhere that says you must prove where you bought the ticket, it’s not on the kiosk, on the dream big commercials, nowhere," said Douglas, who added. “I had no idea they could do that and it outraged me."

In June of this year CTV News Toronto did a similar story with a man who also was denied his $1,200 lottery prize because he couldn’t remember where he bought his ticket.

Douglas said she's frustrated and wants her jackpot.

“I would like my money but I also don't want anyone else to go through this,” said Douglas.

A spokesperson for OLG told CTV News Toronto in a statement “OLG always pays the right prize to the rightful owner of a winning ticket. When a winning ticket of $1,000 or more is presented for claim, the OLG Prize Centre is required to determine the rightful ownership of that ticket.”

“As part of the standard prize claim review process, claimants are asked a series of questions to determine ticket ownership, such as, “where did you purchase the ticket?”, “when did you purchase the ticket?” or “did you purchase any other lottery products such as ENCORE or another game at the same time?”

“If any responses do not match the information we have, or if incorrect information is provided, or information requested is not provided at all, then the claim undergoes further review which will add extra time to the prize claim process.”

In the end, after OLG reviewed Douglas’s case she was given her $1,003 jackpot which was great news for her.

“Thanks CTV News for investigating this for me. I’m very thankful to finally get this money,” said Douglas.

When buying lottery tickets, try to remember where you bought them and consider asking for a receipt. Also, don’t write anything on the ticket except your name, as additional markings can increase the time it takes to get your prize.