Normandy woman 'denied €500,000 online win by bug'

A Normandy woman who thought she had won €500,000 on an online scratchcard game has taken the organisers to court after they claimed her jackpot was the result of a computer bug.

According to the court files, the woman took a screenshot of her win, and continued to play - only later realising that her winnings had disappeared from her online cashpot on the Française des Jeux (FDJ) website.

But the FDJ said that its own computer system had been checked, and it showed no win linked to the woman's account. It suggested a problem linked to unknown 'reasons external to the FDJ system' may have caused the issue, and that it would be unable to honour the win, despite contacting the woman by email to say that it would be paid.

Citing online gaming forums, it said that other users were spotting similar issues.

The woman is claiming €500,000 plus a total €80,000 in damages and costs.