By The Associated Press
Powerball losers in Iowa were actually winners for about seven hours this week, after the state's lottery incorrectly posted the winning numbers.
Lottery officials blamed unspecified "human error" for the spread of erroneous numbers in Monday night's Powerball drawing.
The wrong numbers were posted on the Iowa Lottery's website around 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday, and it wasn't until 7:15 a.m. that someone noticed the error, removed the numbers from the site and stopped the prize payout.
The lottery said the incorrect starting numbers would have resulted in prizes ranging from $4 to $200. They did not specify how many people won. Anyone who got up early and cashed in a winning ticket will be able to keep the money.
Monday night's Powerball jackpot was approximately $355 million. There was no winner, according to the Powerball's official site, bringing the sum to $374 million.
The lottery had to work until 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday to fix its system and resume paying for winning Powerball tickets. With the numbers right, 3,998 people who bought tickets in Iowa won prizes, also between $4 and $200.
The real winning numbers from Monday night's Powerball drawing were 2-21-38-61-66 and Powerball 12.