You’d think someone would be sprinting to the lottery office to claim a $1 million prize. But more than two months after someone bought that winning ticket in Oregon, nobody has come forward.
In fact, there is $5.6 million in unclaimed Oregon lottery prizes sitting out there waiting to be claimed. And time will eventually run out for those winners.
Melanie Mesaros from the Oregon Lottery says that $1 million Powerball ticket was sold in Portland on Nov. 2, 2022. That was in the run-up to the U.S. record $2.04 billion prize that someone in California won on Nov. 7.
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A second $1 million ticket that was part of the Powerball jackpot build up went to a retired trucker from Salem.
Anyone who has a winning ticket has up to one year from the date of the drawing to claim their winnings.
“So I would encourage everybody, go check your tickets. Look for old tickets that might be tucked away somewhere. Maybe you forgot about it or misplaced it because you may have a winner and you may not even know. And you can download our app and check your ticket, scan it that way to find out if you have a winning ticket on your hands,” Mesaros said.
After that one year, the money goes to the Oregon Legislature which will then distribute it to the lottery’s beneficiaries.
One important note: Mesaros says you should always sign the back of your lottery ticket after you buy it. If someone else tries to turn it in and claim your money, you may need that signature to prove it’s really yours.
Also, remember that if you claim a lottery prize in Oregon, your name and how much you won is public record.
