Iowa Lottery accidentally published the wrong numbers — but the mistaken 'winners' will get to keep their money

• The Iowa Lottery initially reported the wrong winning numbers for Monday's Powerball draw.
• Some people claimed their winnings, mistakenly believing they'd won up to $200.
• While the numbers were corrected, the temporary 'winners' will get to keep their money, it said.

The Iowa Lottery accidentally published the wrong winning numbers for Monday's Powerball draw, leading some participants to believe they'd won hundreds of dollars.

The mistake was the result of "human error," it said.

But the lottery added that those temporary 'winners' who'd presented their tickets while the wrong numbers were still live would be able to hang onto their winnings.

In a blog update on Wednesday, the lottery said the Powerball prizes won under the incorrect numbers ranged from four dollars up to $200.

It did not say how many of the almost 4,000 prize-winning tickets in Monday's draw were the result of the incorrect numbers.

The incorrect results went live at about 12.30 a.m. and remained available until roughly 7.30 a.m., shortly after staffers noticed the error, the lottery said.

The lottery's procedures mean that two people in different locations both enter the results from the draw before they are officially recorded on the statewide gaming system, which links all the lottery terminals and self-service kiosks in the state.

During the process, some numbers were "mistakenly entered incorrectly," the lottery said.

This led to incorrect results being reported on the statewide gaming system and its website.

The corrected official results finally went live at 3.30 p.m. on Tuesday, the lottery said.