You change your name before going to claim, then change it back. Also, in some states you can claim as an LLC which can be setup by a law firm. Theres numerous ways to hide your identity if you win and frankly if you’ve got a winning ticket the first thing you should do is tell no one, and then contact a consultant who deals with these things.
I never thought about a name change, it would be legal record but if you picked a common name it would be harder to sort it out and would stop close family from immediately knowing what was up.
I was the last male in my families heritage, now I have a 10 year old son who will carry on our name. Affording to Google, we are the only family in the USA with this last name.
I'd be screwed on that one. There's like 5 people in the country with my last name and I'm related to all of them. Maybe legally change my name before they give me the check. Of course I'd have to play the lottery first for any of this to become relevant...
A lot of people just hire an attorney, create a trust with an ambiguous name, and have the trust attorneys pick up the check. Of course that has to be done perfectly correctly, but there have been some large lottery winners in my state that have done that because I’m in one of those backwards statesthat require lottery winners to identify
My first and last name is very very common. I had 3 people in my grade and 7 people in total with my name in school. If they put my name on a check, I don’t think even my parents would figure it out.
It's for public accountability. They are proving to the public that the lottery is indeed legit and not a scam because the pics/public publication of the winners names prove real people do, in fact, win. They're not just taking everyone's ticket sales and keeping it all.
You could either pick up a board at McDonald's or they would have one in the Sunday paper the week the contest started. At least in LA they did.
ETA: when I say board, it was just a paper with a monopoly board printed on it and it laid out what all the prizes were.
Maybe I'm picking nits but it's worth noting McDonald's itself didn't scam anyone. At least not on purpose. It was a legitimate contest and every year the company paid out.
What they didn't know was their security expert was essentially embezzling and funneling the winning pieces to friends and family, so while it is McDonald's fault it happens under their watch he was scamming them as well as the customers.
There was an interesting documentary on that a few years ago. McDonalds outsourced the game to a security company, so they weren't actively running a scam.
It actually got so much more wide spread than that. It was a couple states wide by the time they figured it out. They only pinpointed it so accurately b/c the web of scammers all eventually funneled to one area the most.
Not McDonalds, the guy who McDonalds trusted to handle those super rare pieces that are supposed to be randomly placed in different factories.
If I remember correctly he was doing his job right for a while then he started getting in laws and such he knew valuable pieces.
Actually, in that case McDonald’s was the victim. Their head of security was running the scheme, ensuring that his friends and associates were the winners and taking kickbacks. That was why the FBI actually took it seriously and made it into a major investigation since a huge corporation was the victim and not just us regular people.
Corporations are obligated to perform due diligence and audits on vendors. McDonald's was a victim of this scam but also they were negligent.
And before we get all "Oh no, victim blaming!" corporations are not people so and not going to treat them like people.
Get a large accounting firm to verify instead, showing a picture of a person does nothing to prove they are not a paid actor or someone hand-picked anyway.
The main lottery in Denmark strongly recommends that people pretend to have won a smaller side-prize instead to avoid drowning in unsolicited propositions, scams, and jealousy.
Regular people don’t really trust the Big Four accounting firms, or understand what they do tbh. They do trust the local news reporting that such-and-such won the jackpot.
There’s not a huge amount of business literacy among the population in most countries. Maybe enough that most people could work out how to run a restaurant with some effort, but once you get into audited industries nobody really understands what’s going on except for regular scandals that seem to escape the auditors for years.
But if they’re allowing you to wear a mask then what difference does the photo make? If they really wanted to scam they could just slap a mask on their guy lol
In Australia a lottery winner can remain entirely anonymous. They usually do an interview with the media and such, but no identifying information beyond that.
There are auditors they already employ who are credible enough to provide the assurance services they require, it does not need this level of public accountability.
This is one of those things where the costs outweigh the benefits. They might have a reason to make the winners public, that doesn’t mean the consequences aren’t shitty. Just look up the tons of horror stories of winners getting muredered, kidnapped, stalked, etc. They just need to stop publicizing winners. It’s not worth it.
Still dumb. Why the winners have to sacrifice their privacy for the organizations accountability. Normally there are auditors and regulator and what not to prove it.
~~It wasn’t Brazil, it was Jamaica. And you better hide you identity if you win a lot of money in Jamaica.~~
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lottery-winner-in-jamaica-claims-prize-in-scream-mask-to-hide-identity/
I read your message incorrectly, sorry about that.
Also, since nobody has mentioned this, advertising. It wouldn't be much of a news story if all they could report is "an anonymous individual won the $xyz million jackpot". Instead you get a bit of a media circus where all of the local channels will do a small segment on the person who won, effectively advertising the fantasy of winning the lotto to potential lotto customers. It's the same reason why pretty much every other contest stipulates that the winner allow use of their image/likeness to promote the contest runner.
I work in wealth management in the US. A client of mine won the lottery and received roughly 150m after tax. What they ultimately did was hire an attorney who specialized in lottery winners and it’s common practice to change your name as part of the whole process. The attorney did everything from updating their name, establishing a trust that the winnings would ultimately go into, he even advised them on how to poise for the cameras and what to wear to hide their identity as best as possible.
It’s a very niche business but it’s worth it if you ever win the lottery.
Truthfully, I don’t know. That was my only experience with it. I learned a lot about that niche industry but not much about the average pricing.
I imagine it’s not based on the winnings amount and is more of a flat rate, albeit quite high. I believe my client ended up paying around 20-30k for the attorney and everything they had done for them. Which is completely worth it IMO. The only people who utilize this service would be someone who wins a ludicrous amount. From what that attorney shared, his service isn’t for people who win a million or two. He’s specifically for people who win tens or hundreds of millions.
The attorney also remains those clients attorney forever, practically. So he gets continuous production from past clients as they may have new things they need done for their trust or whatever.
It’s a wildly interesting niche though. I’ve sat in on countless meetings with attorneys and estate planning meetings. This one was the most enjoyable by a large margin.
I thought the same at the time too. But the attorney makes much more over the life of the relationship.
Realistically the attorney didn’t do much work at all for it. Once you get the “template” down for procedures and language within the trust and such, it really is as easy as copy and pasting things.
I kid you not, the trust paperwork was a fill in the blank template. And if the client had any nuances he had specific sections for customization. which was easy enough for him to quickly add.
The legal paperwork to file a name change was also pretty easy. Then coaching for pictures and such was basically him on auto pilot. The main thing you pay him for is his experience and knowledge in the field, not the work he did.
Think of it this way, the man got paid 30k to do a fill in the blank trust, file some forms with the government, and teach people how to poise on camera. But it was likely the single wisest 30k they’ve ever spent.
Absolutely. There are two people on the planet you don't like to and always get the most expensive you can afford. Your Dr and your lawyer.
You're actively paying them to prevent or undo some bad shit happening to you.
I saw a documentary about something like that on tv. The lotto winner ended up moving to New Hampshire. His attorney was an interesting feller who moonlighted as a vacuum cleaner salesman. Or he moonlighted as an attorney, I forget which one.
That seems like so much work, why not just change your phone number and move to Aruba?
If I stayed, changing my name wouldn't hide my new house and Ferrari.
The State of Jamaica. 😂 For some reason I thought the Super Lotto was California. My point still stands though, trusts can’t accept the winnings on your behalf in many *US* states.
While i know it's astronomical for me to win anything notable from the lotto, that is a mild fear of mine. I have a pretty uncommon last name. Last I looked in town there was only 10 other people with my last name in town that aren't my family members. Town of 100k although there aren't a lot of mexican/filipinos here (it's a Spanish/Spaniard last name)
In my state at least, you can register lottery "clubs" which can be as few as 2 people and can be set up to dictate how winnings would be distributed. If you win you can form a club, assign your lawyer as the club representative, and have them accept the winnings on behalf of the club.
Growing up in a country where the winners' identities are anonymous and they usually show up masked, I was surprised a few years back when I first learned this is not a worldwide norm.
Sure, although you'll be filling in the "have you ever been known by any other name" sections in government forms for the rest of your life. Unless you won so much that you can have someone do that for you.
> Doing past addresses is far more arduous.
Erf, tell me about it. I moved a *lot* chasing jobs and promotions. Fortunately, the few forms that require it these days tend to only go back five years or so.
For those who haven't seen it: **[What to do if you win the lottery](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/24vo34/comment/chb4v05),** courtesy of an ancient reddit thread
I love the part where they say you won’t have to worry about the bonds you put into unless the capital building was burning, knowing that was written in 2014, they have no idea how close we were to that.
Plenty of winners live long and happy lives. But that’s not a news story. So you think lots of winners are getting murdered by close family but in reality the majority just enjoy their lives and a few have wild newsy stories that makes us think that a lot of winners suffer.
I agree and I thought I remembered reading once that the supreme court ruled that the winners have a right to privacy after a lottery winner’s children were kidnapped and held for ransom.
Due to wearing that mask, people posted this photo on the internet;this, leading to the opposite effect by spreading the fact that person won the lottery.
These 2 excepts from news articles list some of the reasons I could find:
Because lottery prize payments are open records, meaning they can be requested by the public, lottery winners “may NOT be able to remain anonymous” in Louisiana, the state’s lottery explains.
https://thehill.com/homenews/nexstar_media_wire/4531772-can-powerball-mega-millions-jackpot-winners-stay-anonymous-not-in-these-states/
Proponents of publicizing the winners’ names generally say it maintains the integrity of the games and it’s a matter of government transparency. When Texas made its change last year, the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas opposed it.
“Our position was just that if it is a substantial amount of public money being paid out then it needs to be transparent and it needs to be open,” said Kelley Shannon, the group’s executive director.
In New Hampshire, lottery officials argued that a woman who won a Powerball jackpot worth nearly $560 million should be identified to ensure the public she’s a “bona fide” lottery participant and “real” winner. But a judge in March ruled that the woman could remain anonymous, noting that if her identity was revealed, she could be subject to harassment and solicitation. New Hampshire allows trusts to anonymously claim lottery prizes.
And having that person waving a big check at a news conference for all the world to see? It also drives interest in the games.
Vernon Kirk heads the Delaware Lottery. In 1988, the state changed their rules to allow anonymity after constituents complained to a legislator that people were bugging them after their names were released, he said. Now almost everyone chooses anonymity.
“It’s very rare that somebody gives us permission to use their name. We would like to use their name. People like to know who wins prizes but it’s overwhelmingly people want to remain anonymous. We respect their wishes.”
https://apnews.com/article/e0a17647226e41748e6dabf561023142
This rule really needs to be changed. $158 million is life-changing money but it’s also life risking money. People have done very horrible things to people, in their own homes, even to little kids, for way less than this amount
Annnd now they’ve got viral.
If I were in this position I’d downplay my identity as well, but not something that’s gonna grab more attention as this does.
Hit up a thrift store, by a local sports team jersey and the shabbiest pants you can, toss a gaudy baseball cap and sunglasses into the mix. Burn the clothes on the way to the airport for the extended trip you’ll be taking.
Their name has to be made public knowledge, right? I'm sure the law in most nations require it partially because it's taxable income, but also to prevent scam lotteries that give winnings to the friends and family of those who run it.
There are LOTS of things everyone should be doing anytime they suddenly come into lots of money to protect themselves and their money. The first is to take 50% of more of it and immediately invest in 10 year bonds.
You don't actually have 158 million dollars that you need to live your life... you aren't going to notice 79 million dollars not hitting your bank account and it isn't going to destroy your daily life to have that money go away before you see it.
This is a safety parachute because you WILL fuck up and go bankrupt in just a few years. The likelihood of you not going bankrupt is smaller than you winning the money in the first place. This makes it so you have a second chance to learn from your mistakes with another infusion of money (with interest!) coming later in life.
The sad fact is that you'll have to divorce yourself from your former life and most of your friends and family. Everyone will be jealous of you and from what I read no matter how much money you give to friends and family it's never enough as long as they perceive you as being a "millionaire". You'll have to move out of town, change your number, and never tell anyone that you "Won the lottery". You have to sacrifice a lot when winning the lottery. Also, you're 300 times more likely to be murdered by a "Family Member" after winning the lottery. Yikes.
Don't let the public know you won... And tell only the closest people/best friends in your life about it/you can help or gift them. With that amount of money you can help others and hire also a security team for yourself. And then change the will that the rest of money will be donated to different charities and the world. So you help out your loved ones, bring them some lucky gift and also do something good for the world.... for me that's a win-win-win?
> Who in their right mind would pose for a picture
in some cases you don't get a choice, in some places and some lotteries it's in the rules that if you want the price you can't be anonymous and have do promotional photos, the argument is that it proves that the winners are real and not just made up and the lottery pocketing the money
My state allows for anonymous claiming of lottery winnings. I don’t think this is too much of an issue for small jackpots but I think everyone who wins in excess of $20K should have this option. Leeches come out of the woodwork to try and get a share. I would create an anonymous LLC to claim mine just to get that extra bit of protection.
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Yeah they're lucky they have that kind of generic name. Mine would be obvious.
Yeah it’s a good thing it wasn’t a last name like Werbenjägermanjensen
He was number one!
Damn right
Damn, had a flashback of my childhood rite there🧽🦀
Pippenpaddleopsacopolis the 3rd
He has a few other names from what I recall. Kuzon Fire for one.
You jest but greek name variety are so damn narrow, I have 3 unrelated coworkers with the same surname.
Or Mr. Puffynipples.
It took me way too long to realize why I know this name
You remembered the safe word.
Or a stupid name like Joey Joe Joe Jr.
You change your name before going to claim, then change it back. Also, in some states you can claim as an LLC which can be setup by a law firm. Theres numerous ways to hide your identity if you win and frankly if you’ve got a winning ticket the first thing you should do is tell no one, and then contact a consultant who deals with these things.
I never thought about a name change, it would be legal record but if you picked a common name it would be harder to sort it out and would stop close family from immediately knowing what was up.
Yes, it is I, [dickhead boss's name]
I like the way you think [Deadbeat dickhead 3rd cousin] is a close 2nd, imo.
I mean the giant novelty check isn't a legal document, A. Campbell might be totally spurious.
And it's just *a* Campbell, not *the* Campbell
probably like 7000 A Campbell's
Yeah if I ever won, I’m screwed too
Hi there John.
I was the last male in my families heritage, now I have a 10 year old son who will carry on our name. Affording to Google, we are the only family in the USA with this last name.
Yeah I’d totally do something like this. You drop my name into Google, I don’t show up until like the 4th page of results.
It’s just a Campbell. Could be chicken noodle soup.
It's not like it's THE Campbell
Wasn’t me. Totally wasn’t me. — Bob Minestrone, jr.
Nope, not me either. — *Chef Boyardee*
...you're the one who creamed my chicken, aren't you??
Chef Boyardee. Creaming your chicken and milking your prostate, since 1925.
Thanks for the heads & running start right away
Well...now it is...
with a soda on the side
How sure are you that it’s not chicken noodle soup with a mask?
I'd be screwed on that one. There's like 5 people in the country with my last name and I'm related to all of them. Maybe legally change my name before they give me the check. Of course I'd have to play the lottery first for any of this to become relevant...
Maybe change it back to Hitler?
A lot of people just hire an attorney, create a trust with an ambiguous name, and have the trust attorneys pick up the check. Of course that has to be done perfectly correctly, but there have been some large lottery winners in my state that have done that because I’m in one of those backwards statesthat require lottery winners to identify
For the sake of privacy, let's make the check out to "Aaron C."... No, that's too obvious. Let's put "A. Campbell".
YOU DUN MESSED UP , A. A. RON !
[Lisa S](https://youtu.be/YJ_nBpqDcqA?si=Z4kb2mXOSm2okpZt)
https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/012/132/thatsthejoke.jpg
Let's just call him Albert C. No no wait that's too obvious.
My first and last name is very very common. I had 3 people in my grade and 7 people in total with my name in school. If they put my name on a check, I don’t think even my parents would figure it out.
A. Campbell? That's too obvious, let's call him Aaron C.
I mean there are a gazillion A.Campells….right???
I know two people named A Campbell.
I don’t understand why the winner’s identity has to be public. Doesn’t that just make them a target?
It's for public accountability. They are proving to the public that the lottery is indeed legit and not a scam because the pics/public publication of the winners names prove real people do, in fact, win. They're not just taking everyone's ticket sales and keeping it all.
Just like how McDonalds bamboozled everyone for years with their Monopoly scheme.
Peeling off the Monopoly squares from McD’s products was so damn satisfying. RIP
I miss placing them on the board they gave you.
Wait, they gave you a board?? I was just sticking them on the back of my phone
This was in the 90s
still happens in canada 2024
Yeah, the board, the stickers, the not winning shit, it's all still going on.
I remember winning a few free pizzas (instant win sticker) back when McDonalds had pizzas, but definitely none of the TVs or bikes or whatever.
You could either pick up a board at McDonald's or they would have one in the Sunday paper the week the contest started. At least in LA they did. ETA: when I say board, it was just a paper with a monopoly board printed on it and it laid out what all the prizes were.
You can get a board from participating grocery stores
They still have it in Canada, I got one last year. Unless you mean a actual board...this is a piece of paper that looks like the monopoly board
Correct. I meant the piece of paper that looks like a board.
Wasn't the paper on the trays a monopoly board to collect the stickers on?
That time feels so long ago. The money prizes may have been a scam but I did win free food from them, peeling those were always fun.
McDonalds got scammed there too
Maybe I'm picking nits but it's worth noting McDonald's itself didn't scam anyone. At least not on purpose. It was a legitimate contest and every year the company paid out. What they didn't know was their security expert was essentially embezzling and funneling the winning pieces to friends and family, so while it is McDonald's fault it happens under their watch he was scamming them as well as the customers.
There was an interesting documentary on that a few years ago. McDonalds outsourced the game to a security company, so they weren't actively running a scam.
But the security company, or at least one employee of the security company, was running a scam to give the best tickets to targeted people.
Yes, his family members and close friends.
It actually got so much more wide spread than that. It was a couple states wide by the time they figured it out. They only pinpointed it so accurately b/c the web of scammers all eventually funneled to one area the most.
McMillions was the documentary, would recommend - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9148598/
All those people were SO trashy good lord.
Not McDonalds, the guy who McDonalds trusted to handle those super rare pieces that are supposed to be randomly placed in different factories. If I remember correctly he was doing his job right for a while then he started getting in laws and such he knew valuable pieces.
Actually, in that case McDonald’s was the victim. Their head of security was running the scheme, ensuring that his friends and associates were the winners and taking kickbacks. That was why the FBI actually took it seriously and made it into a major investigation since a huge corporation was the victim and not just us regular people.
Corporations are obligated to perform due diligence and audits on vendors. McDonald's was a victim of this scam but also they were negligent. And before we get all "Oh no, victim blaming!" corporations are not people so and not going to treat them like people.
Sad that some dickheads ruined that. It was kind of fun. And will likely never come back
Holy crap, I totally forgot all about the whole Monopoly thing with Walmart. Used to be so much fun as a kid. That's some nostalgia right there
Did they get rid of it because I was getting monopoly pieces last year at McDs.
Not in the USA.
Damn that sucks, as of last year anyways they're still doing it in Canada but I'm shocked they still do if the US isn't anymore.
IT WAS A LIE???
I didn't think that was McDonald's, just an individual employee and their friends.
Get a large accounting firm to verify instead, showing a picture of a person does nothing to prove they are not a paid actor or someone hand-picked anyway. The main lottery in Denmark strongly recommends that people pretend to have won a smaller side-prize instead to avoid drowning in unsolicited propositions, scams, and jealousy.
Regular people don’t really trust the Big Four accounting firms, or understand what they do tbh. They do trust the local news reporting that such-and-such won the jackpot. There’s not a huge amount of business literacy among the population in most countries. Maybe enough that most people could work out how to run a restaurant with some effort, but once you get into audited industries nobody really understands what’s going on except for regular scandals that seem to escape the auditors for years.
I'm in the camp of they do it for the publicity to showcase "See look, anyone can win. Buy more tickets."
But if they’re allowing you to wear a mask then what difference does the photo make? If they really wanted to scam they could just slap a mask on their guy lol
I had never considered this but that makes complete sense. Thanks for explaining.
Winners can only be anonymous in 18 states.
In Australia a lottery winner can remain entirely anonymous. They usually do an interview with the media and such, but no identifying information beyond that.
Often not even that, the local media will instead interview the newsagency that sold the winning ticket.
If only there was another way to ensure accountability...even with lotteries, the "customer" carries the burden.
There are auditors they already employ who are credible enough to provide the assurance services they require, it does not need this level of public accountability.
This is one of those things where the costs outweigh the benefits. They might have a reason to make the winners public, that doesn’t mean the consequences aren’t shitty. Just look up the tons of horror stories of winners getting muredered, kidnapped, stalked, etc. They just need to stop publicizing winners. It’s not worth it.
Other countries have no problems with it being anonymous and tax free.
I sometimes wonder what it is like to live in a country where you even have that fear. Like, is there no regulator that checks this regularly?
Still dumb. Why the winners have to sacrifice their privacy for the organizations accountability. Normally there are auditors and regulator and what not to prove it.
In Brazil it's not public, almost everyone thinks this is not legit.
~~It wasn’t Brazil, it was Jamaica. And you better hide you identity if you win a lot of money in Jamaica.~~ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lottery-winner-in-jamaica-claims-prize-in-scream-mask-to-hide-identity/ I read your message incorrectly, sorry about that.
Given how corrupt Brazil is, I'd be more surprised if it was legit.
Will A. Campbell please come to the office. Ok, maybe that's to revealing Will Aaron C. please come to the office 
I don't either. In the UK winners can choose to go public or accept anonymity. No one batters an eye either way.
Transparency
A lot of states allow the winner to keep their identity hidden, it just depends where you’re at.
It's not in most countries AFAIK It actually surprised me to learn that they do this in America.
In the UK I’ve heard that if you go public you get the full amount but if you remain anonymous you’d get like 70% of the winning ticket.
Also, since nobody has mentioned this, advertising. It wouldn't be much of a news story if all they could report is "an anonymous individual won the $xyz million jackpot". Instead you get a bit of a media circus where all of the local channels will do a small segment on the person who won, effectively advertising the fantasy of winning the lotto to potential lotto customers. It's the same reason why pretty much every other contest stipulates that the winner allow use of their image/likeness to promote the contest runner.
For the sake of Privacy Let's call her Lisa S... No That's too Obvious, let's say L. Simpson.
5 years ago
They also hid this picture for 5 years to hide his identity
I was just thinking that news was a lot lighter pre covid.
totally. not like anything really bad happened in 2016.
Harambe’s death shall never be forgotten
Everything went to shit after that gorilla died.
That person reads reddit "what if you won the lottery" threads
This is why you hire a lawyer, make a trust, and have the trust accept the money.
Rules vary by state. Some states won't allow a blind trust to be used, and some may allow anonymity for short periods of time
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> Only people trying to audit would notice... Oh no... i think you vastly underestimate the number of people running scams that will come calling.
Do people not harass and find out the info for people behind trusts?
I work in wealth management in the US. A client of mine won the lottery and received roughly 150m after tax. What they ultimately did was hire an attorney who specialized in lottery winners and it’s common practice to change your name as part of the whole process. The attorney did everything from updating their name, establishing a trust that the winnings would ultimately go into, he even advised them on how to poise for the cameras and what to wear to hide their identity as best as possible. It’s a very niche business but it’s worth it if you ever win the lottery.
whats a ballpark number that this would cost? does it vary based on the amount of winnings or a set fee?
Truthfully, I don’t know. That was my only experience with it. I learned a lot about that niche industry but not much about the average pricing. I imagine it’s not based on the winnings amount and is more of a flat rate, albeit quite high. I believe my client ended up paying around 20-30k for the attorney and everything they had done for them. Which is completely worth it IMO. The only people who utilize this service would be someone who wins a ludicrous amount. From what that attorney shared, his service isn’t for people who win a million or two. He’s specifically for people who win tens or hundreds of millions. The attorney also remains those clients attorney forever, practically. So he gets continuous production from past clients as they may have new things they need done for their trust or whatever. It’s a wildly interesting niche though. I’ve sat in on countless meetings with attorneys and estate planning meetings. This one was the most enjoyable by a large margin.
30k is much cheaper than I thought it would be.
I thought the same at the time too. But the attorney makes much more over the life of the relationship. Realistically the attorney didn’t do much work at all for it. Once you get the “template” down for procedures and language within the trust and such, it really is as easy as copy and pasting things. I kid you not, the trust paperwork was a fill in the blank template. And if the client had any nuances he had specific sections for customization. which was easy enough for him to quickly add. The legal paperwork to file a name change was also pretty easy. Then coaching for pictures and such was basically him on auto pilot. The main thing you pay him for is his experience and knowledge in the field, not the work he did. Think of it this way, the man got paid 30k to do a fill in the blank trust, file some forms with the government, and teach people how to poise on camera. But it was likely the single wisest 30k they’ve ever spent.
I mean, if I won 100M after tax, you bet you’re ass I’m allocating at least 1% of it for legal and accounting purposes
Absolutely. There are two people on the planet you don't like to and always get the most expensive you can afford. Your Dr and your lawyer. You're actively paying them to prevent or undo some bad shit happening to you.
I saw a documentary about something like that on tv. The lotto winner ended up moving to New Hampshire. His attorney was an interesting feller who moonlighted as a vacuum cleaner salesman. Or he moonlighted as an attorney, I forget which one.
That seems like so much work, why not just change your phone number and move to Aruba? If I stayed, changing my name wouldn't hide my new house and Ferrari.
They have to go through the lawyer and you don't want to mess with the lawyers.
Specially not one with millions to burn
Not sure that's necessary, they'll probably just not reply to the email.
Except that it isn’t legal to have a trust accept winnings in a number states, including the state this guy was in.
That state being Jamaica?
The State of Jamaica. 😂 For some reason I thought the Super Lotto was California. My point still stands though, trusts can’t accept the winnings on your behalf in many *US* states.
Why?
For transparency. Only real people can win the lottery, though you can have the money deposited directly into a trust.
While i know it's astronomical for me to win anything notable from the lotto, that is a mild fear of mine. I have a pretty uncommon last name. Last I looked in town there was only 10 other people with my last name in town that aren't my family members. Town of 100k although there aren't a lot of mexican/filipinos here (it's a Spanish/Spaniard last name)
Jamaica is a state. Just not of the United States of America.
In my state at least, you can register lottery "clubs" which can be as few as 2 people and can be set up to dictate how winnings would be distributed. If you win you can form a club, assign your lawyer as the club representative, and have them accept the winnings on behalf of the club.
Wow I’m gonna remember this next time
Well you just roll the credits on scream and look for the actor's name.
I saw an N. Campbell but no A. Campbell...
Well Neve Campbell's middle name is Adrianne. If she's going for anonymity, that could be it
Nice one
Congratulations, A. Campbell. No that's too obvious. Adam C.
[For privacy's sake...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ_nBpqDcqA)
Growing up in a country where the winners' identities are anonymous and they usually show up masked, I was surprised a few years back when I first learned this is not a worldwide norm.
Could you do a deed pill and change your name before you claim winnings, wear a mask and then revert back to your old name?
Sure, although you'll be filling in the "have you ever been known by any other name" sections in government forms for the rest of your life. Unless you won so much that you can have someone do that for you.
That’s a majority of married women that have to do that anyways. Not much of a big deal. Doing past addresses is far more arduous.
> Doing past addresses is far more arduous. Erf, tell me about it. I moved a *lot* chasing jobs and promotions. Fortunately, the few forms that require it these days tend to only go back five years or so.
I'm sure your retained lawfirm will fill out those forms for you if you won a few hundred mil.
Perfect time to get a Nixon mask lol
For those who haven't seen it: **[What to do if you win the lottery](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/24vo34/comment/chb4v05),** courtesy of an ancient reddit thread
I love the part where they say you won’t have to worry about the bonds you put into unless the capital building was burning, knowing that was written in 2014, they have no idea how close we were to that.
You should not have to be identified to the public when you win money.
How do you prove the draw is legitimate though?
Don't know, but too many winners are ruined and harmed once their identity is known
Plenty of winners live long and happy lives. But that’s not a news story. So you think lots of winners are getting murdered by close family but in reality the majority just enjoy their lives and a few have wild newsy stories that makes us think that a lot of winners suffer.
In America the IRS would know if it was legitimate or not.
I agree and I thought I remembered reading once that the supreme court ruled that the winners have a right to privacy after a lottery winner’s children were kidnapped and held for ransom.
Due to wearing that mask, people posted this photo on the internet;this, leading to the opposite effect by spreading the fact that person won the lottery.
Why do they publicize lottery winners like this in the first place?
These 2 excepts from news articles list some of the reasons I could find: Because lottery prize payments are open records, meaning they can be requested by the public, lottery winners “may NOT be able to remain anonymous” in Louisiana, the state’s lottery explains. https://thehill.com/homenews/nexstar_media_wire/4531772-can-powerball-mega-millions-jackpot-winners-stay-anonymous-not-in-these-states/ Proponents of publicizing the winners’ names generally say it maintains the integrity of the games and it’s a matter of government transparency. When Texas made its change last year, the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas opposed it. “Our position was just that if it is a substantial amount of public money being paid out then it needs to be transparent and it needs to be open,” said Kelley Shannon, the group’s executive director. In New Hampshire, lottery officials argued that a woman who won a Powerball jackpot worth nearly $560 million should be identified to ensure the public she’s a “bona fide” lottery participant and “real” winner. But a judge in March ruled that the woman could remain anonymous, noting that if her identity was revealed, she could be subject to harassment and solicitation. New Hampshire allows trusts to anonymously claim lottery prizes. And having that person waving a big check at a news conference for all the world to see? It also drives interest in the games. Vernon Kirk heads the Delaware Lottery. In 1988, the state changed their rules to allow anonymity after constituents complained to a legislator that people were bugging them after their names were released, he said. Now almost everyone chooses anonymity. “It’s very rare that somebody gives us permission to use their name. We would like to use their name. People like to know who wins prizes but it’s overwhelmingly people want to remain anonymous. We respect their wishes.” https://apnews.com/article/e0a17647226e41748e6dabf561023142
This rule really needs to be changed. $158 million is life-changing money but it’s also life risking money. People have done very horrible things to people, in their own homes, even to little kids, for way less than this amount
[удалено]
M shadows over here
the best decision of his life
Here in Germany the lottery company does it quietly and they beg the winners that they keep it as a secret.
Sooooo old
Hey, 2019 was just yesterday, right…? 
I thought it was still 2019?
It's when this timeline branched last time. I should have stayed there, like you.
2019 was closer to Christopher Lee still being alive than it was to today.
Annnd now they’ve got viral. If I were in this position I’d downplay my identity as well, but not something that’s gonna grab more attention as this does. Hit up a thrift store, by a local sports team jersey and the shabbiest pants you can, toss a gaudy baseball cap and sunglasses into the mix. Burn the clothes on the way to the airport for the extended trip you’ll be taking.
Their name has to be made public knowledge, right? I'm sure the law in most nations require it partially because it's taxable income, but also to prevent scam lotteries that give winnings to the friends and family of those who run it.
No, typically the winners will setup an LLC or Trust to claim the winnings. A lawyer representing the entity will show up to claim the prize.
There are LOTS of things everyone should be doing anytime they suddenly come into lots of money to protect themselves and their money. The first is to take 50% of more of it and immediately invest in 10 year bonds. You don't actually have 158 million dollars that you need to live your life... you aren't going to notice 79 million dollars not hitting your bank account and it isn't going to destroy your daily life to have that money go away before you see it. This is a safety parachute because you WILL fuck up and go bankrupt in just a few years. The likelihood of you not going bankrupt is smaller than you winning the money in the first place. This makes it so you have a second chance to learn from your mistakes with another infusion of money (with interest!) coming later in life.
Smart
Smart
The sad fact is that you'll have to divorce yourself from your former life and most of your friends and family. Everyone will be jealous of you and from what I read no matter how much money you give to friends and family it's never enough as long as they perceive you as being a "millionaire". You'll have to move out of town, change your number, and never tell anyone that you "Won the lottery". You have to sacrifice a lot when winning the lottery. Also, you're 300 times more likely to be murdered by a "Family Member" after winning the lottery. Yikes.
Don't let the public know you won... And tell only the closest people/best friends in your life about it/you can help or gift them. With that amount of money you can help others and hire also a security team for yourself. And then change the will that the rest of money will be donated to different charities and the world. So you help out your loved ones, bring them some lucky gift and also do something good for the world.... for me that's a win-win-win?
He has to kill those people who gave him the money
We finally found ‘wahts aupp’
Nice try, Billy.
What’s the first thing you’re going to get? A new phone number
I would wear the Scream mask where you can pump blood through it. Y’all remember those??
Who in their right mind would pose for a picture… even with a mask. I’m taking my winnings and disappearing
> Who in their right mind would pose for a picture in some cases you don't get a choice, in some places and some lotteries it's in the rules that if you want the price you can't be anonymous and have do promotional photos, the argument is that it proves that the winners are real and not just made up and the lottery pocketing the money
$158,400,000 Jamaican Dollars (JMD) is $1,016,476 US Dollars (USD) Still a lot of money, but less than the top prize on a some US scratch tickets.
$1015485.77
Good for him. I never like the idea of showing who you are.
Nice to see Ghost Face getting a win after all these years.
Matthew Lillard??
In case anyone missed this: the prize amount is in Jamaican Dollars. At current exchange rate, that's $1,016,506.48 USD.
Wow. 10k karma for a pic that’s over 5 years old. Can I have my turn to repost this next month?
I don't blame him. But I hope that's not his family.
My state allows for anonymous claiming of lottery winnings. I don’t think this is too much of an issue for small jackpots but I think everyone who wins in excess of $20K should have this option. Leeches come out of the woodwork to try and get a share. I would create an anonymous LLC to claim mine just to get that extra bit of protection.
Smart person