Former Canadian lottery winners say lucky ticket holder should prepare for wave of unwanted attention
The hucksters started calling only hours after Brenda Schley's good fortune was announced.
Strange cars turned up outside her Clearwater, B.C., home. Then strangers began rubbing the 57-year-old for luck.
And that win only involved $1.75 million.
"It's almost scary," says Schley, a year after matching six out of six numbers on a Lotto 6/49 draw.
"We had to leave the house for about 10 days because the phone was ringing off the hook."
A very public windfall
Schley says she can't imagine the spotlight awaiting the holder of a $50 million winning Lotto Max ticket who stepped forward this week after waiting nearly a year to claim the prize.
(See Winner of $50 million Lotto Max jackpot claims prize just before it expires, Lottery Post, Mar. 12, 2015.)
Like it or not, their days of anonymity are about to end.
"I think people think that they have a choice that they can just say 'I'm not going to tell anyone if I won the money'," Schley says.
"I've heard people say that — but I know that's not the way it works."
In fact, one of the conditions of receiving a prize from the B.C. Lottery Corporation is consenting to the release of your name and photo as the winner of the prize. Similar rules govern other Canadian lotteries.
"The minute a player hands over his three or five dollars and purchases a lottery ticket, he is agreeing to those conditions," says BCLC's Chris Fairclough.
Lotteries generate an incredible public interest, he says.
"Our job is to pay out the rightful ticket winner and to ensure transparency so that the public — and lottery players — know that there are indeed winners."
'People know a lot about you'
In the wake of lawsuits and exposés about crooked lottery retailers claiming prizes for themselves, the desire for transparency on behalf of gaming giants is understandable.
But that doesn't make the spotlight any easier to endure, one winner says.
"I would have liked the option for it to be private," says one Vancouver Island winner.
CBC has agreed not to name the woman, who won a million dollars in 2014, and was reluctant to expose herself to publicity and fraudsters again.
Her picture is among dozens on BCLC's website featuring dazed winners struggling to hold up giant cheques overflowing with reams of zeroes.
She says she understands the need to advertise and the public's desire to know, not to mention a lack of sympathy for lottery winners: "But suddenly — people know a lot about you."
Winners offered a choice
By contrast, the licensed operator of the UK National Lottery, Camelot, offers winners the choice of anonymity.
And six U.S. states also allow lottery winners to keep their identities private: Delaware, Maryland, Kansas, North Dakota, Ohio and South Carolina.
The office of B.C.'s Information and Privacy Commissioner says they received a complaint several years ago about BCLC's use of lottery winners' personal information for marketing purposes.
They wouldn't comment on the specifics of the case.
In pushing for anonymity, U.S. legislators have argued more than just embarrassment is at stake.
In 2013, a Chicago dry-cleaner was poisoned with cyanide hours after collecting on a $1 million scratch-and-win prize. And a Florida woman was convicted of murdering a man who publicly won a $30 million jackpot in 2006; she befriended him, killed him, buried him in her yard and then took control of his assets.
The lucky bear
Chinese mega-lottery winners have to endure a live televised broadcast of their win.
But unlike shy Canadians, they can hide behind costumes. That's led to a series of bizarre cheque acceptance ceremonies involving a Panda, Mickey Mouse and a giant yellow bear.
(See Chinese lottery winner claims jackpot in bear costume, Lottery Post, Oct. 14, 2014.)
The cute factor may not be as high, but several Massachusetts lottery winners have also managed to obscure their identities by sending lawyers and accountants to accept prizes on behalf of hastily drawn up legal trusts.
Fairclough doubts that would be possible in British Columbia.
"When someone does purchase a ticket, it's an actual individual that purchases the ticket," he says. "An actual ticket holder must come forward to ensure that they are the legal rightful holder of that ticket before we'll pay it out."
Schley says she doesn't ultimately have a problem with the publicity.
"It's just something you have to learn and learn how to deal with anyway," she says. "People are going to find out anyway."
And even had she dressed as a giant yellow bear, it's doubtful Schley could have kept the win secret in her community — Clearwater has a population of just over 2,300.
But she says her neighbours were never the problem.
Thanks to myturn for the tip.
I hated the attention my windfall garnered but here I am in the spotlight again to tell my tale about those scary moments. Now please don't stalk me or rub my Budda Belly for luck.
With the publicity from a windfall, you don't want to stay in your neighbourhood, it doesn't make any sense..
And this is exactly why I would try to claim anonymously.
People would not find out because I would move.
Pedro Quedaza the powerball winner of $338 million still live in town,after two years of his windfall he still drive the same car and nothing bad had ever happened to him or his family.
Yet.
lol!
I was reading news stories, that he skipped out on his rent, and owed a bunch of money in child support. But apparently he did reconcile with his girlfriend after the lawsuit, where she wanted half of the money, claiming the ticket had been bought with joint money.
I found this on You Tube... " The hunt is on for U.S. Lottery Winners" from the Press Association. When I win then everyone will be looking for me. I might be able to request "minimal publicity" here in California.
I'd like to see all state lotteries adopt an anonymity option!
Scammers are waiting and plotting I'm sure, better to give them as little help as possible.
Abraham Shakespeare won the Florida lotto in 2006, and was murdered in 2009 by a woman he didn't know before he won the lottery. She was able to know who he was and target him, thanks to the lottery commission's mandatory publicity. There's a video on YouTube where Shakespeare states that he'd like to have his old life back, so he could walk down the street without people knowing who he was. He apparently couldn't go anywhere in public without people recognizing him and hounding him for money.
Yep! You could ask Abraham Shakespeare about that, if only he hadn't been murdered for his lottery winnings!
People here always say it's very unlikely, but I don't believe that at all. Identity theft is already a huge problem, that's without being a confirmed halfbillionaire. Look at the Sony data leak and how many people already ran into problems with that.
Randall Rush sounds like a good egg. Good for him on his mission to help the needy.
Just hope he picks wisely as many charitable organizations are wasting lots of money on administrative costs, ie hefty salaries in the organization, and fund raising premiums which sometimes look questionable.
Congrats to him.
Still lives in Town-really? Did we not read that the Mother of his child wanted a share of the money " because it was almost gone"..something about him sending Millions back to the Dominican Republic?
Have you personally seen him walking around Town or driving the same car?
Winners offered a choice
By contrast, the licensed operator of the UK National Lottery, Camelot, offers winners the choice of anonymity.
And six U.S. states also allow lottery winners to keep their identities private: Delaware, Maryland, Kansas, North Dakota, Ohio and South Carolina.
Why can't all state lotteries learn from the states listed?
i know mr.quezada also blew more than 1/2 or 3/4th as reported multiples times en nj news paper
IDIOT He IS,FOR SPENDING SO MUCH as news in nj said.
i sure would not do that.
feliciades MARIE HOLMES LATE 20S...
at 27.please mamita invest it wisely... love it!!!!
adios
Shakespeare was illiterate and convicted for a string of burglaries, which qualifies him as one of the most likely of jackpot winners to lose it all. It's a sad story, but the outcome was almost inevitable after reading all the details.
I don't need anonymity. I'll follow Nancys advice and just say no.
^
Shakespeare and the murderer didn't know each other before he won the lotto. Shakespeare wasn't allowed to remain anonymous under Florida law, and the resulting publicity allowed the murderer to know who he was and target him.
It's a crying shame that people have to die and get robbed etcetera - just because lottery commissions want to rake in more money, and misguided paranoids squawking about "transparency" are afraid the lottery commission and "da gubbermint" are going to conspire to steal lottery winnings.
What's really pathetic is that when challenged, the transparency paranoids can provide very few documented instances of where lottery commissions and the government have stolen lottery money via phony lottery wins. The whole "we must have transparency" argument is a transparent sham itself.
EuroMillions winners can also remain anonymous, as can winners of several other major European lotteries. Europeans are way ahead of the U.S. in understanding the need for anonymity for lottery winners. Unlike most U.S. lottery commissions, the Euros put winner safety above greed-based publicity extravaganzas.
I've been saying it for years & years: don't let the lottery commission convince you to do any publicity at all. Avoid the press conferences, don't give interviews or have your picture taken. All the publicity does is boost lottery ticket sales; the lottery execs are incentivized to increase ticket volume, so it benefits them, not the winner. And, the commission knows about the problems that could befall a winner, yet don't say much about it.
I've read tons of articles about lottery winners who publicize their wins, and here's some of the things winners could suffer, thanks to their wanting the limelight: people steal their mail, break into their cars, steal their cars, vandalize their home, burglarize their home, home invasion robberies, people following them around writing down their schedules & familiar places (kidnapping?), thousands of letters per week asking for money, people call & e-mail at all hours of the day & night (or even worse, show up at their front door & ask for money). Family & friends treat them different because they have money; distant family members suddenly become really interested in you, other family members claim "they're blood" and deserve part of the winnings. Then there's the truly frightening possibilities: kidnappers, stalkers, and the random nutjobs & whackos. There's supposedly even a religious cult in the midwest somewhere who believe that "anyone who's won the lottery has access to "the devil's numbers" and must die". No proof they've ever done anything untoward, but just rumors of them existing are frightening enough.
Nope, if I win, I'm forming a trust (probably blind) with my attorney & letting it claim the funds. No publicity at all, and I'm dropping off the grid on paper (while continuing to live my life as I wish).
Winning the big jackpot does not promise happiness, but it's fun to chase those jackpots.
If you don't like the heat , stay out of the oven....simple as that !
All I need is a new Lamborghini convertible with scissor doors and an open Arizona desert highway everything else and everyone else will be left behind in the dust and about my old phone and old phone number well I throw away thru the window when I hit over 100mph lol
next on wrecked exotics
"Shakespeare wasn't allowed to remain anonymous under Florida law, and the resulting publicity allowed the murderer to know who he was and target him."
Shakespeare lost any chance of anonymity when his former friend Michael Ford sued him claiming Shakespeare stole the winning ticket from him.
"It's a crying shame that people have to die and get robbed etcetera - just because lottery commissions want to rake in more money, and misguided paranoids squawking about "transparency" are afraid the lottery commission and "da gubbermint" are going to conspire to steal lottery winnings."
The extra publicity was because ot the lawsuit that you're apparently ignorant of. We discussed the lawsuit over seven years ago and a year before Dee Dee Moore contacted Shakespeare in October 2008.
"What's really pathetic is that when challenged, the transparency paranoids can provide very few documented instances of where lottery commissions and the government have stolen lottery money via phony lottery wins."
LMAO!
It's obvious you have an agenda against the Florida Lottery and creating imaginary arguments doesn't help your position.
Big jackpot winner, Abraham Shakespear, lived similarly for 2 years before his eventual murderer engaged him, his imediate and extended family, his accountants, and his lawyers, in a 1.5-year relationship.
Again, what utter and total
How do you suppose the former friend found out he won the lottery in order to sue him? ESP?
Why don't we add up all the innocent winners who have been sued by greedy people, whose lawsuits would never have even seen the light of day, would never have even been conceptualized had not the lottery commissions plastered the winners' identities everywhere under God's green earth for free publicity. You want to make it sound as if Shakespeare's lawsuit just materialized out of thin air and that his publicized win was not the instigating factor. I suppose the doctor who had her tires slashed and the winners who receive kidnap and death threats had those things happen to them in a bubble too. Must be a lot of telepathically gifted people walking around out there.
Really...nothing in his life has changed. Is that really the story you want to stick with and sell to us?
Boy would I love to know where you get your facts. Then I want you to do a simple Google search on him for the year immediately following his win, then come back here and make this ridiculous assertion again with a sincere heart and a straight face.
Read the article posted on LP in 2007; it has all the lawsuit details including how Ford found out Shakespeare won.
"You want to make it sound as if Shakespeare's lawsuit just materialized out of thin air and that his publicized win was not the instigating factor."
LMAO!
Moore met Shakespeare a year after the lawsuit. Are you that lazy or can't you read the article that was posted on LP?
But why is she still remind the public she won?? After the unwanted attention you would think that staying away from the press would be a good idea.
You knew what you were doing when you got the ticket , so I don't want to hear the complains. Go wipe your tears with a hundred dollar bill.
You show up unannounced and uninvited to my home and it is going to be a very bad day for you, especially if you try to rub me or touch me in any way. Anything over $2 million is an automatic move in my opinion.
Well congratulations.And God blessed, hope tthings are back to normal for you and your family.
Are you that narrow minded to think that people approaching lottery winners even years after a win to scam them has nothing to do with their notoriety? How long was it after his win that Dee Dee finagled her way into his life? Real crooksters take the time to do their research, find the weak spots then go in for the kill. Time and time again we see clear evidence of these sham lawsuits popping up with claimants putting forth false eyewitnesses, false documentation, and even false (sometimes collaborated) testimony. They didn't pull that out of thin air ya know. But hey, who am I to spoil your none-of-that-is-related-to-the-public-knowing bubble. So what if we live in the most litigious country in the world and the lottery makes it known to everyone that these particular people are now worth a boatload of money. I'm sure the resulting lawsuits have nothing to do with that. It was all coincidental. Yeah, that's what it is. A big ole coincidence.
I love how those who hit the lottery for several million dollars think that somehow their life will go on "as usual" or even expect it to.
If I wanted my life to stay the same I wouldn't, you know, play the lottery.
"Are you that narrow minded to think that people approaching lottery winners even years after a win to scam them has nothing to do with their notoriety?
The names of lottery winners are public record regardless of how they claim their winnings. The only difference in states that allow anonymity is the lottery doesn't publish the winners names. Shakespeare was nothing more than an average winner until he was sued and accused of stealing the winning ticket.
"How long was it after his win that Dee Dee finagled her way into his life?"
You never even read the article.
"Real crooksters take the time to do their research, find the weak spots then go in for the kill."
Like a convicted burglar?
"Time and time again we see clear evidence of these sham lawsuits popping up with claimants putting forth false eyewitnesses, false documentation, and even false (sometimes collaborated) testimony."
It's called the U.S. Judicial system. Why is it you only see where lottery winning millionaires like Shakespeare have these problems when self made millionaires and the 1,645 billionaires don't?
Great I,m in texas,u have a option of a trust.
Hey it's simple you dont have to play, I frankly dont care who knows I won, I would be more focused on the fact that I had won. As for scammers, thieves, and the like, you'd probably have more to fear from your own friends and family than you would any stranger.