Lottery apologizes for $100 e-mail faux pas
By Howard Pankratz
The Denver Post


You did not — NOT — win $100.

"Go back to jail." "Luxury Tax (Pay $100)."

For people who subscribe to the Colorado Lottery's MyLottery online site, Tuesday was like a bad roll of Monopoly dice.

On Tuesday, the Colorado Lottery sent out 3,700 e-mails to MyLottery subscribers telling them they had won $100.

"Thank you for taking the time and providing us with your feedback on potential drawing games," the e-mail read. "Your opinions are important to us. Congratulations! You are a winner. You have won $100!"

The problem was, they didn't.

The e-mail was a blunder.

"Obviously, this is a mistake," said Erika Gonzalez, spokesperson for the Colorado Lottery. "We didn't intend for this to upset anyone."
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The Colorado Lottery did intend to reward 20 people for filling out a survey on the MyLottery site.

About a month ago, the Lottery told the 45,000 MyLottery subscribers that it was conducting the survey.

From the first 275 respondents, a drawing was held to select 20 $100 winners.

But the e-mail system "grabbed" the e-mail before it was ready and began transmitting it to all 45,000 MyLottery subscribers, said Gonzalez.

Luckily, Gonzalez said, the mistake was caught within five minutes. Only 3,700 of the e-mails went out.

Many who received the notification thought it was a scam, Gonzalez said.

They hadn't filled out a survey and were highly suspicious. Even some people who had filled out the survey were skeptical because in order to collect the $100, they had to click on a link and provide mailing information. But when they clicked, nothing happened.

The e-mail's formatting wasn't completed before it went out, and so there was no form to fill out once folks did click on the link.

Still, the mistake has not caused an uproar, said Gonzalez. "They aren't storming the gates," she said. "The vast majority thought it was an error. They were concerned they were being scammed."

Within a short time Tuesday, the Colorado Lottery sent out an e-mail telling the 3,700 recipients that the first e-mail was in error.

"Please disregard any notice from the Colorado Lottery about having been chosen as a drawing winner for participation in a research study," it said, adding that the 20 winners would be notified in a separate e-mail.

On the bright side, said Gonzalez, two of the actual winners were among the 3,700 who received the initial notification.

"It is a bad thing when something like this happens," she said, "and we are very sorry for it."

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12569927