Should Lottery Winners names be kept secret? States Debate Issue
DES MOINES, Iowa (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.” SOURCE
Keep the names a secret? Absolutely, without a doubt.
Some folks really do get talked into some of the most incredibly stupid and bad investments imaginable.
There have been multi-million dollar lottery winners that ended up dead broke in a very short time. That is because of the slick presentation that a *huckster*, a con artist can come up with, and the sincerity of said con artist in his speech.
It is also because many lottery winners are stupid, gullible, too trusting or are simply damned fools that will fall for anything.
As the story says, winners have a big old target painted on their backs and will be constantly *hit on*, begged for money by huckster, played by the con artists or just out right bullshitted by some schlub that will try to play on the emotions of the winner with a story about how *Mom* or *grandma* is going to die a horrific death if they don’t come up with $20K for a much needed operation.
The folks in Tennessee that hit part of the gigantic Powerball jackpot were on the news this afternoon talking about how it felt and how they were such *private people* and all that, and they DO seem like good and decent people but you can bet your bottom dollar that they will soon become total hard-asses or they will rue the day they won and went on TV to tell their tale.
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.
There will be winners, there are always winners, if you don’t trust the lottery commission, don’t play.
I don’t care if it’s a $10 win or $100M, if you win someone is going to try and talk you into giving them money, lots of money, and you’re going to find out that you have more kinfolks than you EVER knew about.
If YOU hit the lottery and great-aunt Bessie’s son’s third cousin on aunt Bessie’s great-great granny’s side of the family, her 4th cousin Tyrone, comes forward asking you to please help in his desperate time of need as he tries to save a 4th or 5th cousin on his Mom’s side of the family, you’ll think back to this story and shake your head.
I know this because I have seen it happen, a girl I went to school with came into several million dollars when her mother died and relatives came out of the woodwork to try and con her.
She was a smart girl; she told em ALL to kiss her ass, she moved away and as far as I know she’s not been seen or heard from since.
There is another issue that is being considered in California … the use of security footage from cameras that record ticket purchasers and others in convenience stores and elsewhere where tickets are sold. Because the public has no right to privacy in these locations and because the ticket logs include date and time log information, can a news organization purchase (or license) the footage showing the winner purchasing the winning ticket — blurring out all non-winner faces when practical.
It turns out that this type of photo surveillance was used to crack the case involving the Powerball Jackpot rigging scandal … https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/01/09/the-company-that-runs-powerball-had-a-16-5-million-jackpot-rigged-by-a-former-employee/
It appears that everything is grist for the media mill these days — even things that can get you killed, injured, or kidnapped.
The media has NO soul…
A friend of mine had a good idea. If you win the lottery, do NOT tell anyone, and call all of your friends and family and ask them if you can borrow $5,000 (or some other amount that would seem to fit the situation, where you know they have the money, and could easily make the loan, but enough to make them really have to trust you to pay it back). For added emphasis, also tell them you got kicked out of the house, and could you not only borrow the money to get back on your feet again, but could you come and stay with them for a few days until you can find a place to live. Hell, ask if you could also borrow their car, and whatever else may be good for testing the situation.
Then, for every friend that helped you, no questions asked, and gave the shirt off their back if needed, well, you help them if you like. For those that hemmed and hawed, or just plain refused…well, you know what you can tell them.
Personally I think it should be the Winners decision. If the person who wins wants his business out in the news, then they should be allowed to have it. I don’t play the Lottery that often so if I were to win it, I would probably not want to have it put out into the media circles for everyone to decide how much they are gonna ask me for. I already know who my true friends and family are and who I will and will not give money too so, I would probably not want it out there to make myself a target. Although I do shoot back, it would not be worth the headache of hiring a Defense Attorney to represent me after I had to shoot some Asshat for attacking me or my family because I denied them money.
My wife and I played the powerball the last two drawings for the CHANCE to win even a piece of the pie. The thought of divving up any money amongst relatives and friends would be a secondary consideration. Our welfare would be a priority but I can see us spending and investing wisely before any distributions are made. Anyhow we can all dream can’t we?
Number 1 would be me and my wife, and at our age there is just so much you need and can spend, but it would be a lot if we hit like that… The kids and grands would be taken care of in a HUGE win situation, not just handed a ton of money but enough to have a comfortable life and college for the grands… Past that, I have to think of the ones that have helped me along the way, and the ones that have said they would help and didn’t do a damned thing… My memory is getting bad but it’s not THAT bad… 😛
I would just love to give it a whirl in determining who my friends are!
Only thing wrong is if you are involved in the lie and cheating called “The Lottery” which has been sold to the citizenry as benefiting schools, state programs etc. you do not have any call to complain about the rest of humanity trying to also extract a sum from winners. It is ironic that officials are worried about the anonymity of winners when they are first and most importantly need to know who the winners are to “legally” swoop in and grab their take before it is distributed and the winners physical address so that state and federal governments know who to call on when the taxman demands their year end payout - more likely with such large winnings the winners will be required to go on quarterly tax payments to insure the state and federal governments get paid first and before it is wasted away. What? You thought once it was distributed to you the government was done with you? Naw, they will hound you till they have extracted every “legal”cent from your winnings until there ain’t no more. From my perspective the state complaining about winners anonymity and it being scammed away by others is probably not a concern; what is a concern is the state and federal government being first at the head of the line and trying to ensure a long life to the winners new found income.
If the only argument against public disclosure is the winners will be subjected to scams and lose their winnings, I am reminded of an old saying that I have modified to reflect the truth: A fool and his money are soon parted, but since money is power, a fool and his money SHOULD be parted!
It sure would change your life and complicate it. I wouldn’t want it known to anyone but my immediate family.
I’d hire a lawyer and get out of town until I had a plan in place. I don’t have a lot of friends but I’m sure I would after the word got out. Most of them wouldn’t get shit from me.
I’d have every fucking toy that I ever wanted and then some. Anything that goes fast would be in my hanger. At sixty-three you don’t have a lot of time to spend that kind of coin but I’d give it my best shot.
Dream on my friends…
YES the names should be kept secret, for these three reasons:
1. Fundamental privacy. You have a right NOT to be hounded by the media.
2. Security. You will become a target for criminals and the unscrupulous.
3. Unrelenting hounding for cash. You are now a target for those who would want to separate you from your cash — ranging from family members to attorneys to charities to investment managers to outright fraudsters.
It’s YOUR money. YOU are the best determinant of what should be done with it.
BZ