Indiana Man Thought He Won $100,000 Lottery Prize, But It Was Just $20 Due to Error

Mike Fields purchased several tickets for the Hoosier Lottery's new $5 Space Invaders Cash Invasion scratch-off game shortly after it launched.

After scratching one of the tickets, Fields said he uncovered a rocket ship symbol that appeared to award the game's top prize of $100,000.

Excited by what he believed was a life-changing win, he scanned the ticket and initially thought he had hit the jackpot.

But when Fields took the ticket to the Hoosier Lottery headquarters in Indianapolis to claim what he believed was a $100,000 jackpot, officials told him a technical issue had affected the game and that he had actually won just $20.

Lottery officials claimed the ticket's printed symbols did not match the game's official validation records, making the prize worth $20 despite appearing to show a six-figure win.

Fields was not the only player affected. Another Indiana resident, Glendon Jones, believed he had won $2,500 on a Space Invaders Cash Invasion ticket, only to learn that it was not a winner at all.

Hoosier Lottery officials have since stopped the sale of the $5 Space Invaders Cash Invasion scratch-off game, which launched in May, and are now urging players who had similar issues with their tickets to submit protest forms and the scratchers in question.