The Best Lottery Pranks Ever

As tonight’s Euromillions jackpot tops €166 / £141 million, thoughts of what to do upon winning that amazing prize are bound to be at the front of every player’s mind this afternoon. However, sometimes the idea of winning is just as thrilling as actually having the cash in your bank. And for some individuals, the idea of teasing others with this prize is too much to resist. Here, we outline some of the best lottery pranks ever, by those pretending others have won and by those pretending to have won themselves.

£81m Celebrity Apprentice from Dalkeith

When the Euromillions jackpot of €95 / £81 million was won by a UK player back at the end of May, friends of 22 year old Andrew Louden from Dalkeith decided to turn the unsuspecting mechanic apprentice into a local celebrity by announcing he was the lucky winner via Facebook. Louden was immediately swamped with friend requests, calls, text messages and even requests for cash. Instead of shunning his newfound “celebrity”, Louden has embraced it, joking to the Scotsman newspaper that he will be playing the lotto every week now that he has had a taste of the high life.

Nolan Daniels and His Powerball “Win”

Perhaps the most famous lottery prank in the world is the one which saw Arizona man Nolan Daniels post a picture of himself with a winning ticket shortly after the US Powerball jackpot of $587.9 million was won by two tickets in November 2012. He pledged to choose one person to give $1 million to, and all they had to do to get a chance to win the cash was share his photo. The photo went viral and became the most shared picture ever on Facebook, with an estimated 1 in 500 Facebook users having shared his picture. You can read about that in our News Archive.

Peter Lowery and His Facebook Frenzy

In October 2010, the British media was frantically hunting the owner of a £113 million Euromillions ticket, which, at the time, was the largest jackpot prize ever won in the UK. However, it looked like their search was over when 26 year old Peter Lowery posted on his Facebook page that he was the winner.

“OMG!!! I’ve won the euromillions jackpot! WTF! This isn’t a joke!! I can’t breathe!” the ex-Nissan worker posted to the delight of his friends. However, suspicions arose when lottery organisers confirmed that no winner had come forward to claim the prize, and after several weeks went by during which Lowery could potentially have missed out on £90,000 in interest per day, it was assumed he was having a bit of a joke.

If these stories made you chuckle but you would much rather have the millionaire lifestyle than five minutes of fame for a daft prank, then it’s not too late to take part in tonights Euromillions! Simply click the banner at the top of this page or head to the Euromillions Page and buy your ticket online – you don’t even have to leave your seat!