Ontario's lottery corporation is apologizing to players who thought they won big on a scratch ticket due to a printing error.

Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., spokesman Don Pister says three million Fruit Smash tickets were printed and up to 1,100 of the $3 tickets had some misaligned symbols underneath the scratchable latex surface.

Pister says the gaming corporation only became aware of the problem after getting calls from ticket buyers.

He says the run of misprinted tickets was identified and pulled from stores the same day.

But one Brampton, Ont., man is furious that tickets he thought were worth a combined $135,000 are actually duds.

Pister says the real winning tickets are marked and determined in advance and don't even have to be scratched to be redeemed.

He says not all the Fruit Smash tickets had to be pulled from stores because the proper number of winning tickets had been circulated.

Customers who believe they have won should contact the lottery corporation.

"We're apologizing to everyone and anyone who feels they were at all confused or inconvenienced by this," Pister said Tuesday.

"Provide us with a photocopy of the ticket and we will look at each ticket and determine whether or not it was a winner and deal with each customer individually."

Pister says the error is "extremely rare" and there are extensive quality control and assurance procedures at various stages of the ticket printing process.

"Obviously, you can't scratch and play every single one of the three million tickets but there are various checks done by us as well as by the ticket printer."