Indiana Man Believes He Won $100,000 Lottery, Awarded $20 Due to Technical Issue

An Indiana man who believed he had won a $100,000 lottery jackpot was stunned when lottery officials later told him his prize was actually worth just $20 due to a"technical issue."

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.

“They never told us, ‘No.' They just said that we wouldn't be paid today, and no other information really, except that we would be informed by mail within 30 days,” Fields, a forklift driver, told WXIN.

Lottery officials reportedly 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.

“I get here, and they say it's a mess-up, a misprint, and that I'm pretty much out of luck on it,” Jones told WXIN about going home from lottery headquarters empty-handed.

Both men said they received little explanation when they visited headquarters and were told the matter was under review. Hoosier Lottery officials have since stopped the sale of the $5 of 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.

"The $5 Space Invaders Cash Invasion Scratch-off launched with a technical issue. We halted the sales of the ticket to ensure the game experience upholds the integrity we strive to provide," the Hoosier Lottery said in a statement on its website.

“All information must be thoroughly completed for review to occur, including mailing the purchased ticket with the completed form no later than November 30, 2026. For further questions, players may call the Hoosier Lottery at 1-800-955-6886,” the statement concluded.

The Independent has contacted the Hoosier Lottery for comment.