National Lottery player ‘informed he’d won £11million’… but was delivered bad news when he went to claim prize

A dad of one was left scratching his head after matching six numbers for an £11million jackpot, only to find he hadn’t actually bought a ticket.

Mark Fletcher, from Wigan, was jumping for joy after checking the Lotto numbers, believing he’d become an overnight millionaire.

However, he was gutted to find he was in fact looking at the results checker and not an actual ticket.

The confused 49-year-old rang the lottery hotline, where he was told he’d misread the information and his winnings stood at zero.

He said: “I was a bit shocked when I checked the numbers and found they matched.

“However when I rang them up to check I was on the phone for 45 minutes and the woman was adamant I wasn’t a winner.

“Then I asked why it was telling me I’d won and if there was a fault with the app, and they denied that also. I felt as if I was being put under a lie-detector.

“She kept saying, ‘you haven’t bought that ticket, have you Mark?’ When people play the Lotto, they think it’s a trustworthy service but I’m doubting that now. They’ve not shown any empathy towards me.”

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He added that he was left confused and unsettled by the incident, thinking about the potential winnings.

Fletcher added: “It has impacted me – I’m left thinking about all the ‘what ifs’. If they’ve told me I’ve won but in actual fact I’ve won nothing, it’s a bit cruel and I’ve had sleepless nights.”

A spokesperson for Lotto operators Allwyn said: “Players can select any set of ‘my numbers’, save these in their app account and then go into the app and check them against any previous draw.

“It has nothing to do with whether a player actually played the numbers or not – and, in this case, the player did not play this set of six numbers via his online account for the draw on June 29, or indeed in any draws prior to the draw on June 29 taking place.”

It comes after Stacey Weaver, who should have scooped up over a grand was left disappointed after her winning cheque bounced.

The mum from Battersea picked up £1,750 by matching five numbers in the Lotto draw in June, but was left struggling after the money appeared then disappeared from her account.

She said: “It’s a lot of money to have waved in front of you only for it to feel like it’s been taken away.”