NJ bill aims to protect lottery winners' identity

Sep 6, 2012, 3:09 pm (45 comments)

New Jersey Lottery

TRENTON, NJ — For some lottery winners, a large jackpot can bring out scam artists and others looking to get a piece of the pie.

Some winners have even been kidnapped and killed.

Now, a New Jersey assemblyman hopes to reduce the chances of that happening through legislation that would keep winners out of the public eye.

"Winning the lottery can be a blessing and a curse," said Assemblyman Deputy Speaker John Burzichelli.

"Once their identities become public, winners can become targets for unscrupulous individuals and scam artists."

The bill would direct the state's Lottery Commission to establish a regulation that lottery winners may remain anonymous for one year. Current regulation allows the commission to release the names, addresses, prize amount and photographs of winners.

The address used does not include a street or a house number, but a winner's name, town and county are available under the Open Public Records Act.

The new legislation would prohibit the identity of a winner who wants to remain anonymous from being included in materials available for public inspection during the one-year period.

"It can be tempting to share such great news with the world, and some people may want that celebrity," said Burzichelli. "If they want to spread the good news, they can.

"We just think that allowing a grace period for those who want to stay out of the limelight makes sense."

New Jersey Lottery spokeswoman Judith L. Drucker said Wednesday the commission and Treasury officials will be monitoring the bill's progress in the Legislature.

"While greater privacy protections may be possible, transparency gives taxpayers increased confidence that lottery games are fair and honest," said Drucker.

Burzichelli cited stories from around the country where the stories of winners ended in tragedy.

An Illinois resident who won $20 million in 1996 was kidnapped and killed by his sister-in-law and her boyfriend who targeted him for money.

A Florida man who won $31 million in 2006 disappeared three years later. His body was found under a concrete slab in 2010. A woman he befriended and who later seized control of his money was charged in connection with his murder.

"If these people were allowed to remain anonymous for a while, maybe they would have been able to manage their affairs better," Burzichelli said.

"This grace period could help a lot of people from being approached from somebody trying to sell them oil futures in Iraq."

Burzichelli, a Democrat, believes the nonpartisan, noncontroversial legislation should, from the Assembly side, get approved by the end of the year.

"We might fine-tune it a bit, tweak some dollar limits and thresholds," the assemblyman said. "But again, we just think this makes sense."

The Courier-Post

Comments

Littleoldlady's avatarLittleoldlady

Other states need to think about this, too.  I hope it passes.  A person should not become a target just because they win a lottery.  A year is not a long time but it would give the winners time to do the things they need to do without everyone anticipating their next move.

mcginnin56

If this passes, it would sure beat winding up in a concrete slab.

Nothing against concrete, just after it sets in, makes it more difficult to get around.

haymaker's avatarhaymaker

WTG John Burzichelli, kudos, even though i don't live in your district.

I hope this passes, It'll be a feather in your cap.

And then you can work on reduceing or eliminating the country's highest state lottery tax @ 10.8 %

which discourges tix. buying, by residents and espeically by ppl. from PA,NY, DE.

as a way to improve sale of tix.

gocart1's avatargocart1

Quote: Originally posted by Littleoldlady on Sep 6, 2012

Other states need to think about this, too.  I hope it passes.  A person should not become a target just because they win a lottery.  A year is not a long time but it would give the winners time to do the things they need to do without everyone anticipating their next move.

I Agree!  Hope New York follows this also...

maringoman's avatarmaringoman

Quote: Originally posted by mcginnin56 on Sep 6, 2012

If this passes, it would sure beat winding up in a concrete slab.

Nothing against concrete, just after it sets in, makes it more difficult to get around.

lol concrete is very clingy hahaha

This move by the NJ politician is a great one. By now people know and believe that lottery is real and real people win.

I think one year is ample time for a player to organize their affairs without the pressure of the begging hands.

hearsetrax's avatarhearsetrax

Skepticalshould be curious to see how this pans out ...

but by the same token I wonder how much pressure will be put upon the first big winner to change thar mind to go public b4 they allow for this option

Cletu$2's avatarCletu$2

Its a start in the right direction.Better than nothing.Kansas and a few other states allow winners to be anonymous and I've never heard of any problems with it there.

haymaker's avatarhaymaker

Quote: Originally posted by Cletu$2 on Sep 6, 2012

Its a start in the right direction.Better than nothing.Kansas and a few other states allow winners to be anonymous and I've never heard of any problems with it there.

In jersey you always have to do things in increments,

the 1st time casinos where proposed it was for the whole state and failed (1974)

the 2nd time it was proposed for atlantic city only (1976) and passed

so i hope this will pass and believe it will.

And then the timeframe extended before the winner is revealed.

dpoly1's avatardpoly1

Quote: Originally posted by Littleoldlady on Sep 6, 2012

Other states need to think about this, too.  I hope it passes.  A person should not become a target just because they win a lottery.  A year is not a long time but it would give the winners time to do the things they need to do without everyone anticipating their next move.

I Agree! 

This is a logical choice for ALL States! Thumbs Up

Seattlejohn

YES!  I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it; it's completely unfair that lottery winners are thrown to the wolves when they win the lottery, as it's destroyed many families & lives.  While I think 1 year is too short, this is a fair compromise between public support & transparency of the lottery process, and safety for the lottery winners.  By the end of 1 year, the lottery winners should have had enough time to put into place safeguards so as to severely lessen their public profile.  At that point, the public hullabaloo (and media interest) over winning a lottery will have died down, and they might be able to have a somewhat normal life without all the media intrusion.  I hope, not only does this bill become law in New Jersey, but that other states adopt it as well...

Prob988

As a New Jersey resident, all I can say is "Yeah Baby!"

Ronnie316

Good choice, bring em back alive.....

faber98

first of all anything a new jersey politician proposes must be folly. 2nd of all half the fun if you don't hit it yourself is seeing how the winners manage to screw it up for themselves by basically being brain dead. my favorite was that west virginia guy 7 or 8 years ago who completely mismanaged about 300 million. i don't understand why any would care about some stranger mismanaging his lottery hit. if you mismanage it yourself you can only blame yourself. if i can't hit it the least of my worries is that some schmuck from the midwest or pennsylvania can't figure out how to avoid the pitfalls. even if becomes an anonymous option people are going to find out. some jealous relative or friend will reveal it for sure. so this is a moot point. you would have to leave town for parts unknown to even have half a chance.

Grovel's avatarGrovel

This would be great if every lottery did this. A year would be more than enough time to get away before the scammers come looking.

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by faber98 on Sep 6, 2012

first of all anything a new jersey politician proposes must be folly. 2nd of all half the fun if you don't hit it yourself is seeing how the winners manage to screw it up for themselves by basically being brain dead. my favorite was that west virginia guy 7 or 8 years ago who completely mismanaged about 300 million. i don't understand why any would care about some stranger mismanaging his lottery hit. if you mismanage it yourself you can only blame yourself. if i can't hit it the least of my worries is that some schmuck from the midwest or pennsylvania can't figure out how to avoid the pitfalls. even if becomes an anonymous option people are going to find out. some jealous relative or friend will reveal it for sure. so this is a moot point. you would have to leave town for parts unknown to even have half a chance.

Anyone can put $10 million in an annuity and have $400-$500 thousand coming in every year for the rest of their life. And it would likely take all of about 2 hours to set up.

VenomV12

The moron that ended up under a concerete slab did not do so because his identity was found out, it was because he dated that woman and gave her access to his money and trusted her, in addition to generally being a not very bright individual. Also how would protecting the identity of the Illinois resident from the public have changed anything, it was his sister in law that killed him, not Joe Blow off the street. This guy proposing this law is an imbecile. Using two examples that have no correlation to what he is proposing is inane. 

Identities need to be known for the simple fact as seen dozens of times on this site alone, people cheat other people all the time. From the liquor store clerk to the guy running the lottery pool at the factory. If you win millions of dollars you can move to a gated neighborhood, gate your home or move to another state or country. There are tons of millionaires and billionaires in this country and they survive and get around everyday just fine. 

Seattlejohn

Quote: Originally posted by VenomV12 on Sep 6, 2012

The moron that ended up under a concerete slab did not do so because his identity was found out, it was because he dated that woman and gave her access to his money and trusted her, in addition to generally being a not very bright individual. Also how would protecting the identity of the Illinois resident from the public have changed anything, it was his sister in law that killed him, not Joe Blow off the street. This guy proposing this law is an imbecile. Using two examples that have no correlation to what he is proposing is inane. 

Identities need to be known for the simple fact as seen dozens of times on this site alone, people cheat other people all the time. From the liquor store clerk to the guy running the lottery pool at the factory. If you win millions of dollars you can move to a gated neighborhood, gate your home or move to another state or country. There are tons of millionaires and billionaires in this country and they survive and get around everyday just fine. 

Your arguement is nonsensical.  The reason for this legislation is that, once a lottery winner is announced publically, they're immediately set upon by any number of beggars, thieves, scam artists, distant relatives looking for money, charities aggressively seeking contributions, gold digging women or men, purveyors of high end items (sports cars, real estate, financial investments, jewelry, yachts, planes, etc) contacting them ceaselessly, kidnappers, burglars, etc; all sorts of types looking to separate them from their winnings.  Because they're now public figures & very recently in the public eye, they have no annonymity; everybody knows their face & they get stopped on the street; they get hundreds of letters each week, people call all hours of the night & day, people show up at their front door asking for money.  And, since most of the people who win are not financially sophisticated enough to even consult an attorney or accountant before claiming their prize, they're set up for disaster as they can be bamboozled out of the money by people who found out they are winners (the examples of Jack Whittaker (who claims to have been ripped off for tens of millions of dollars by hackers) and Abraham Shakespeare (who lost his winnings & his life thanks to a woman who initially found out he was a winner via the media) come to mind) or use the money to distance themselves from their lives & gradually withdraw from friends & relatives.  It's a pretty crappy way to live. 

The whole point of the legislation is to give the winners time to put into place plans to deal with these sorts of issues.  After a year, the initial interest in their winning the lottery will be past and they'll have a small measure of annonymity; they will also have had time to make plans to protect themselves.  As for your "tons of millionaires and billionaires in this country and they survive and get around everyday just fine" comment, most of those people typically don't have their picture splashed on every website, magazine, tv newscast or on the radio all at one time; they have a measure of annonymity that protects them so they don't have to move into a gated neighborhood & live like a hermit if they don't want to; the billionaires in the public domain use private bodyguard protection teams that are not only hugely expensive but unwieldy for anyone who wants to live a normal life.  The only reason for maintaining the immediate disclosure of the winners information was to maintain the public belief in the integrity of the lottery, but the 1 year limit allows for this as well.  The legislation is a good thing, and I hope all states impliment something like it.

RedStang's avatarRedStang

Quote: Originally posted by VenomV12 on Sep 6, 2012

The moron that ended up under a concerete slab did not do so because his identity was found out, it was because he dated that woman and gave her access to his money and trusted her, in addition to generally being a not very bright individual. Also how would protecting the identity of the Illinois resident from the public have changed anything, it was his sister in law that killed him, not Joe Blow off the street. This guy proposing this law is an imbecile. Using two examples that have no correlation to what he is proposing is inane. 

Identities need to be known for the simple fact as seen dozens of times on this site alone, people cheat other people all the time. From the liquor store clerk to the guy running the lottery pool at the factory. If you win millions of dollars you can move to a gated neighborhood, gate your home or move to another state or country. There are tons of millionaires and billionaires in this country and they survive and get around everyday just fine. 

I've heard Family can be your worst enemy when it comes to money and these stories seem to prove that. All inside jobs.

luckywinner380

If more players started purposefully playing in states that protect identity, I bet others would follow suit.

faber98

but what about the lottery in states that need to publicize winners names and situations to sell more tickets. if everyone pumped the money into a boring annuity anonymously people would lose interest in playing over time. if you're so worried about the leeches trying to separate you from your winnings don't play. but if you play and win prepare yourself for an onslaught because you invited it. (especially friends and relatives) those 2 paltry cases out of thousands who were killed or kidnapped were by people they knew, not strangers.

jamella724

I definitely agree on this...Once a lottery winners' identity became known to public, his/her life would be endangered.  If this legislation will be passed on Congress, lottery winners will feel secure and safe.  The safety of our fellow men should be the utmost priority of this bill.

mcginnin56

I'd rather risk going out in a concrete slab, then not to play at all.

 

There's risk in everything you do. If you going to be a coward all throughout your life, play it safe all the time, more power to you.

If your fear your friends and relatives will kill you for your money, kill them first. Problem solved.   Chair

Colt45ML's avatarColt45ML

Quote: Originally posted by faber98 on Sep 7, 2012

but what about the lottery in states that need to publicize winners names and situations to sell more tickets. if everyone pumped the money into a boring annuity anonymously people would lose interest in playing over time. if you're so worried about the leeches trying to separate you from your winnings don't play. but if you play and win prepare yourself for an onslaught because you invited it. (especially friends and relatives) those 2 paltry cases out of thousands who were killed or kidnapped were by people they knew, not strangers.

I don't think it is necessary to reveal the winners of jackpot lotteries to the public in order to sell tickets.  People buy tickets purely because of the possibility of wining millions upon millions of dollars, however remote their chances are.  Of course, everyone, including and especially those that don't buy lottery tickets, have some semblance of the voyeur in the depths of their psyche and are interested in knowing who won, and all the particulars.  And this is where the problems come in to play, because there are always a certain percentage of people out there that would use the winner's info to scam him, and that includes everyone from the closest of family members to complete strangers.

As for the winners themselves, you are implying that the ones that are not very sophisticated (which I'd suspect are the lion's share) deserve to be ripped off.  I say just because some people are not very smart, or even wilfully ignorant doesn't mean everyone else gets a free pass to relive them of their winnings, or make life unbearable for them in general.  Also, all you voyeurs out there don't have the God given right to have your prurient appetites filled at the expense of someone that wins a lottery jackpot.

kola2121

NJJim's avatarNJJim

If the Lottery folks want to inspire confidence that the lottery is transparent and fair, they need to go back to drawings with a human host.  This current broadcast where the machines fire up and release numbers with no human element seems so cold and calculating, and I for one wonder if it is truly a live event at all.  Some state lotteries tape "Pre-draws" and then air the drawing that loses less revenue for the state.    Requiring a large jackpot winner to pose with the big check is a public relations tool for the Lottery - it has nothing to do with assuring the public there was actually a winner.  If it was not me, winning, I couldn't care less who it was, except for the recent scheme where an apparently affluent group of people had two individuals accept a jackpot under some incorporated entity.

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by faber98 on Sep 7, 2012

but what about the lottery in states that need to publicize winners names and situations to sell more tickets. if everyone pumped the money into a boring annuity anonymously people would lose interest in playing over time. if you're so worried about the leeches trying to separate you from your winnings don't play. but if you play and win prepare yourself for an onslaught because you invited it. (especially friends and relatives) those 2 paltry cases out of thousands who were killed or kidnapped were by people they knew, not strangers.

WAIT...... thousands were killed or kidnapped??? Is any winner safe???

JWBlue

The argument that a winner's identity needs to be revealed in order to verify there is a winner is completely invalid.

 

This is what one lottery commission does for all their drawings.

 

Q: How are replay winners selected?
A: Winners are randomly selected from all entries received for each drawing. Drawings are conducted according to established Lottery protocols under the observation of an independent Certified Public Accounting firm.

Ronnie316

Quote: Originally posted by JWBlue on Sep 7, 2012

The argument that a winner's identity needs to be revealed in order to verify there is a winner is completely invalid.

 

This is what one lottery commission does for all their drawings.

 

Q: How are replay winners selected?
A: Winners are randomly selected from all entries received for each drawing. Drawings are conducted according to established Lottery protocols under the observation of an independent Certified Public Accounting firm.

Nice point JWBlue, we deserve the right to choose.

Factorem's avatarFactorem

Quote: Originally posted by mcginnin56 on Sep 7, 2012

I'd rather risk going out in a concrete slab, then not to play at all.

 

There's risk in everything you do. If you going to be a coward all throughout your life, play it safe all the time, more power to you.

If your fear your friends and relatives will kill you for your money, kill them first. Problem solved.   Chair

Hello mcginnin56,

It appears that you have been spending quite a bit of time, in some areas of the Old Testament from paragraph 3 of your above post viz:

"If your fear your friends and relatives will kill you for your money, kill them first. Problem solved."

LOL

Although the risk of  going out in a concrete slab is a harmless condition, because it is just that - a Risk and until it is upgraded into the reality that makes us all quiver, it remains a harmless consideration.

The acts of playing the lottery, if I may say so, are mostly harmless.

Having said all these, I do suspect, however that no one at the Lottery Post, friends or enemies would want to see you gone, not even those, that tend to, or practice frequent disagreements with you.

And so, I say that, it is my opinion, that, a fulfilled risk of going out in a concrete slab is a terminal act, that would also terminate all your rights to continuity, and further existence on planet earth, and it is not a prayer that is worth setting and advancing, as a preferred choice over, and above playing the lottery.

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