Poll of the Day > It's BS that few states allow you to remain anonymous after winning the lottery.

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http://denver.cbslocal.com/2016/01/15/in-colorado-and-other-states-lottery-winners-can-keep-names-secret/

AP) — Even a jackpot isn’t enough to buy anonymity for many lottery winners, whose names are often made public by state law.

But now it’s becoming increasingly possible for big winners to hide their identity, and lottery executives are trying to strike a balance between ensuring privacy and safety while still proving to the public that real people can win.

Jackpot winners “get a big old target painted on their backs,” said Andrew Stoltmann, an Illinois attorney who has represented winners. When their names are released “they get harassed and harangued into some horrifically bad investments.”

Forcing people to reveal their names, he added, is like “throwing meat into a shark-infested ocean.”

On the other hand, allowing winners to collect jackpots in secret invites public suspicion and makes it easier for cheating to go undetected, according to gambling experts and others.

The three states with Powerball winners from Wednesday’s record $1.6 billion drawing — California, Florida and Tennessee — require winners to disclose their names, which is the policy of most states that play the game.

Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Ohio and South Carolina allow winners to remain anonymous. A growing number of other states, including Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont, will award prizes to a trust and allow a trustee — usually an attorney — to collect without disclosing the name of the ticket holder.

States including Illinois and Oregon have made exceptions to their policy of disclosure when winners demonstrate a high risk of harm.

Bills to keep lottery winners names confidential failed in North Carolina and New York in the last few years. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in 2013 vetoed a bill that called for a one-year delay in releasing names, saying it could reduce lottery sales by hampering marketing and muting public excitement when winners are announced. Similar measures have also been introduced in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Advocates of privacy cite cases in which winners saw their lives upended after their wealth became widely known.

One example cited by Don McNay, a Richmond, Kentucky, financial adviser who also has represented lottery winners, is Abraham Shakespeare, a Lakeland, Florida, janitor won a cash payout of $17 million in the Florida lottery in 2006.

Shakespeare appeared before cameras with family members, holding an oversized check. He had spent or given away most of his prize by the time he met Dorice Dee Dee Moore in late 2008. She tracked him down, befriended him and within a few months became his financial adviser, with control over his remaining money and his home.

Shakespeare disappeared in April 2009 at age 42. His body was found nine months later, encased in concrete and buried behind the home of Moore’s ex-boyfriend. Shakespeare had been shot twice in the chest. The 44-year-old Moore, convicted of his murder, is serving a life prison sentence.

Oregon typically requires public release of winners’ names, but the state lottery allowed a man from Baghdad to remain anonymous after he won an Aug. 24 Megabucks drawing worth $6.4 million. The man, who purchased the ticket on an international website, said the jackpot would place his family in danger if his identity were known.

Critics complain that allowing winners to hide their identity is a convenient way to conceal criminal activity.

Anonymity “throws a layer of assistance to someone who wants to rig a drawing,” said Dan Russell, former attorney for the Florida Lottery and now a private-practice attorney representing major casinos and gambling industry manufacturers. “It is of no value to those of us who want the system to operate in a clean manner. That is absolutely the wrong idea.”

The risk of anonymous winners came to light after a lottery insider fixed numbers in several games over several years.

Iowa prosecutors say a computer expert working for the Multi-State Lottery Association, or MUSL, which runs games for 37 member states and U.S. territories, figured out how to rig number-generating computers to pick his set of numbers.

Authorities believe Eddie Tipton and his associates successfully cashed in tickets in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Wisconsin, netting more than $2.6 million in payouts. Tipton was convicted of fraud in July for attempting to claim a $16.5 million Hot Lotto jackpot in Iowa. He faces charges additional charges in Iowa related to the other four states.

The requirement that names be made public was “the layer of security he couldn’t break,” Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich said.

Gary Grief, chairman of the Powerball committee for MUSL, insists he has complete confidence in the integrity of the time-tested ball-drawing system, and he still supports revealing winners’ names.

Name disclosure is “a positive thing to reinforce to players that real people do win and that those real people don’t work for the lottery or aren’t involved with lottery,” he said.

A Powerball-type game has not had a high-profile scandal since 1980, the year of the “triple six fix,” in which a lottery insider and others secretly weighted balls with paint so only a few combinations of numbers could surface in the Pennsylvania Daily Number game.

The seven men bet heavily on those combinations. The winning number was 666, which yielded $1.8 million. But they were caught, prosecuted and most of the money was recovered.

“The worst thing that could ever happen to the lottery,” McNay said, “is people feeling like it’s fixed.”

I think the idea is that it provides evidence that the State doesn't just keep the money and lie about paying a winner.

EightySeven posted...

I think the idea is that it provides evidence that the State doesn't just keep the money and lie about paying a winner.

Probably something like that. I would think given that it's state run, it would have to be a matter of public record where the fund is going.

I'm not sure the solution to this is just keep it a secret.
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Win then move.
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I've always had that thought in the back of my mind that, if I won, all the worthless dregs I've come across in my life would try to contact me in an effort to grab a piece of my pie. That would somewhat bother me, but the true reason why I'd want to remain anonymous is because my family sucks. Not my immediate family, but all of my degenerate cousins, aunts, and uncles out there. I couldn't imagine the mass hysteria winning a jackpot would cause. I'd honestly have to change my name and move to another country.

What's BS about it? Winning shouldn't carry a major penalty. Unless you mean it's bs that only a few states let you stay anonymous.

In general, the identity doesn't mean much for the vast majority of people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qy4EIvvVj4
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Only a country that's deeply corrupt needs to prove to its people it isn't just robbing them blind.
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Smarkil posted...

EightySeven posted...

I think the idea is that it provides evidence that the State doesn't just keep the money and lie about paying a winner.

Probably something like that. I would think given that it's state run, it would have to be a matter of public record where the fund is going.

I'm not sure the solution to this is just keep it a secret.

I think it's more likely they want to use the winner as promotional material to get even more people to try and win the lottery.
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I have heard of suggsetions to hire a lawyer who claims the money in your name to keep our own name anonymous. Not sure if this actually works or how well.

Zeus posted...

In general, the identity doesn't mean much for the vast majority of people.

True but there are probably still enough desperate folks who will harass said winners in hopes of getting a piece of the pie or fake some injury to win a lawsuit.
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DarkKirby2500 posted...

I think it's more likely they want to use the winner as promotional material to get even more people to try and win the lottery.

Well the televised/news shit is definitely that. But even without that, I would think it would have to be public record.

Kyuubi4269 posted...

Only a country that's deeply corrupt needs to prove to its people it isn't just robbing them blind.

AKA every country ever
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Smarkil posted...

AKA every country ever

The UK allows you to be anonymous.
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and multiple states here allow you to be anonymous.

you'll probably say "but the entirety of the UK lets you be anonymous"

and i'd respond with that we have multiple states bigger than the entire UK, so suck it.
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Blasted_Fury posted...

and multiple states here allow you to be anonymous.

But not all, i.e. most states can't be trusted to run a multimillion dollar scam on its constituents.
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most actually can.

it's the vocal minority that typically comes into play here.
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Blasted_Fury posted...

and i'd respond with that we have multiple states bigger than the entire UK, so suck it.

Not even slightly relevant, considering how you have a single tyrant overlord and this is about a state that doesn't give anonymity so if anything you're just saying I need to rate each state on its closeness to a 3rd world country.
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dude, the UK isn't a third world country

it's 2nd world, at LEAST.
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Blasted_Fury posted...

dude, the UK isn't a third world country
it's 2nd world, at LEAST.

1st world by both the original definition, and the modern definition.

This might help to explain my reasoning for my stance on this.

If I was the sole winner of the $700 million powerball tomorrow, after taxes, my lump sum amount is $325,749,258.16. (according to http://www.afterlotto.com/powerball-taxes)

I'm 27 years old. I have no kids, no wife, and no dependents. No debt. I live in California, a state that does not allow you to remain anonymous. I don't live anywhere near Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Ohio, or South Carolina (the only states that allow you to remain anonymous). California is among the majority of states that compel lottery winners to be publicly identified if they want to collect their cash and even if you hide your face with the check, they'll still announce your name in a news release.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/can-you-spare-million-why-it-pays-stay-anonymous-after-n70071

Becoming a newly minted millionaire comes at a personal price for many lottery winners: They lose their anonymity.

That%u2019s what California man B. Raymond Buxton sacrificed when he came forward Tuesday as the sole winner of the $425 million Powerball jackpot %u2014 following six weeks of staying in the shadows.

Buxton claimed his cash from the California Lottery without the fanfare of a news conference %u2014 even covering his face in a publicity picture with the standard oversized check.

In a news release, California Lottery officials described Buxton as a Northern California retiree who came to their offices on April Fool%u2019s Day wearing a Yoda T-shirt that read, %u201CLuck of the Jedi I have.%u201D

It was all part of a deliberate display that Buxton orchestrated after he realized he bought the winning ticket in the Feb. 19 drawing, according to one of his advisers, Sam Singer.

I don't want to be hunted down by shitheads and crackpots wanting me to invest in some stupid business, charity, or fund. I don't want to have to move into the middle of Buttfuck to avoid assholes who'll track my car to try to get into an accident with me or jump out in front of me in order to fake injury and get me to pay up. I don't want to have to change all of my passwords again or go off the grid so scriptkiddies and the internet don't try to bruteforce into my various accounts and steal cash. I also don't want to have to hire bodyguards or wear bulletproof armor so people won't shoot me while I'm out on a run or drive, or slip something into my bottle of wear at the gym, etc.

Humans are, by nature, greedy and selfish. They want what others have.

WastelandCowboy posted...

I don't want to be hunted down by s***heads and crackpots wanting me to invest in some stupid business, charity, or fund. I don't want to have to move into the middle of Buttf*** to avoid a******s who'll track my car to try to get into an accident with me or jump out in front of me in order to fake injury and get me to pay up. I don't want to have to change all of my passwords again or go off the grid so scriptkiddies and the internet don't try to bruteforce into my various accounts and steal cash. I also don't want to have to hire bodyguards or wear bulletproof armor so people won't shoot me while I'm out on a run or drive, or slip something into my bottle of wear at the gym, etc.

Humans are, by nature, greedy and selfish. They want what others have.

Yup, that is more or less my concerns and I do not think I am being paranoid based on the stories I have read of other winners. I could give away a chunk of the money to family, friends, coworkers, charities, etc and save several million to comfortably retire with and folks will still harass me for money.

Though I do wonder how other businessman, celebrities, etc handle it. Some keep bodyguards, some try to remain anonymous, while others just.......what? They're well known enough that it'll be obvious other folks are scamming them for money?
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There's a pretty big grace period for claims, right? If you don't let excitement get the better of you then precautions could be taken. Change your name, grow out your hair, associate all accounts with a throwaway PO Box, witness the mob kill a guy, claim the reward, testify to the feds, go into witness protection.
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Kyuubi4269 posted...

Blasted_Fury posted...

and multiple states here allow you to be anonymous.

But not all, i.e. most states can't be trusted to run a multimillion dollar scam on its constituents.

Transparency is like, the total opposite of corruption dude. That's the point. They're not supposed to be hiding shit behind closed doors.

Don't act like the UK's shit doesn't stink for some weird reason. If I wanted to follow your weird logic, I could just say, "Only a country full of assholes and dickheads would need to hide a lottery winners identity".

Like, for real dude. This isn't an advocate for open lotteries, but more so a possible explanation. Hop down off that high horse.
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Smarkil posted...

Transparency is like, the total opposite of corruption dude. That's the point. They're not supposed to be hiding shit behind closed doors.

Don't act like the UK's shit doesn't stink for some weird reason. If I wanted to follow your weird logic, I could just say, "Only a country full of assholes and dickheads would need to hide a lottery winners identity".

Like, for real dude. This isn't an advocate for open lotteries, but more so a possible explanation. Hop down off that high horse.

The UK allows people to be anonymous for their own benefit (but doesn't enforce it) and does not hide the information if there is an enquiry in to corruption. Having a law in place to force transparency shows states can't be trusted to act responsibly in private.

The UK respects privacy but will give up information for the pursuit of justice, this is the correct way to behave.
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