Winner of $55 million jackpot stakes claim and remains a mystery

"As the ticket was unregistered we very much relied on this person coming forward to claim the prize," Tatts spokesman Matt Hart said.

Of course to claim a lotto jackpot, you must first produce the winning ticket.

Then you fill out a prize claim form where you provide your bank details and a few other personal details before the cash is swiftly deposited into your account.

While you are asked to show some identification, if you have an unregistered ticket there is no way of tracing it back to the person who bought it.

But Mr Hart said that he had never come across an instance where somebody had stolen a winning ticket and claimed the prize.

In fact, he says, it's more common for people to misplace their winning tickets.

Last year a Melbourne man came forward to claim a TattsLotto prize of $500,000 two weeks before the deadline after reading a local newspaper article about the unclaimed money.

"It had been in his wallet the entire time," Mr Hart said. "Others have found tickets hiding in plain sight ... stuck on the fridge or in their car. There's also been lot of media coverage approaching the deadline to claim the prize and we can't help but think that has helped too."

The intrigue surrounding the $55 million unclaimed prize had captivated the nation.

People ran wild with conspiracy theories. Some returned to the Scole Lotto & News in Melbourne's northern suburbs demanding to see the CCTV fooage, while others were adamant they had bought the winning ticket, but had somehow lost it.

Those buying Tattslotto tickets began to ask Scole Lotto & News owner Sam Misiano if they could touch his hands and rub his head or face for luck.

Sam Misiano, owner of Scole Lotto & News in Brunswick, where the winning $55 million lotto ticket was sold.
Photo: Supplied

Under Victorian regulations, players have six months to claim their prize directly from Tatts before it is transferred.

However, in Victoria the money can still be claimed in perpetuity, no matter how long the loot sits without an owner.

Exactly who the winner is and what they plan to do with their multimillion-dollar windfall will probably forever remain a mystery because they have chosen to remain anonymous, accordinhg to a statenment from Tatts.

Victoria and Tasmania are the only states in the country that will honour a lottery win forever, with other state governments imposing deadlines on how long someone has to claim their prize.

Melissa Cunningham reports breaking news for The Age.