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I posted here before, read some of the horror stories. I'm going to find out if my state allows you to be anonymous if you win the lotto. It really should be a choice. If I won and everyone knew, it would be trouble because I know who would come to me for a handout. If you have relatives who are spendthrifts you know what im talking about. I really believe that when you play the lotto you must have a written out plan of what you will do with the winnings and how you will take care of yourself first. for me I would get a better healthcare plan, and set up a retirement fund, things that people don't see. getting a good lawyer for advice is another important must do before you go claiming your winnings. I would then take a deep breath and take it easy and pay off my debt and get things done. doing this is nobodies business but mine, and I would not tell anybody cause I know what will happen. I already planned out what I would buy and none of it is flashy, mostly needs, a suv not an escalade maybe a ford escape. my most important goal is to be financially secure. I never had the desire to show off. but I would take better care of myself.

I have always found it odd about the American way of thinking of living for today, but. when it comes to money you got to think a bit about tomorrow. If I had not been a saver I would be in a mess right now cause I'm sporadically employed now. It hurts to have the rep of being a cheap miser tightwad. I don't buy things on credit card cause I want to keep my balances low. So I can see why the majority of lotto winners lose everything, we are taught to spend and if you say no to the bigger car and bigger house you can buy on credit, something is wrong with you. you are a miser, etc. no one wants to here that, its ingrained in us to be the best and have the best. anything less and you are a loser. So what happens, our country is in debt, stores are closing all over the place, and we can't afford healthcare, and have become spending addicts.

Yes, you have a right to know who I am, because those are the rules.  Period. 

No, I really wouldn't want anyone to know, but since I choose to play in a state where I won't have anonymity should I win ANY amount (not just a jackpot) I guess there's nothing I can do about it.

The bottom line is that it's a game and it's voluntary.  If someone doesn't like the rules, then he/she doesn't have to play.

I suppose if you live in a state where identity disclosure is required by state law, you could always file for a name change prior to collecting a big lottery win .... then change it back a few months later .... just call me FriendofLP14648

What if you've already signed the ticket?

I think everyone is entitled to privacy if they want it.  No one should be forced to identify themselve to outsiders.  My Lawyer is my best friend in that situation.  He is my voice and ears for any questions about my wins.  Bad things happen to those who don't take precautions with mouth about winnings.  Look at that Man in Kentucky who carried a brief case in his care worth 10,000 dollars and left in an unlocked vehicle.  Some folks just never learn.

Lots of Luck and Happiness

Joey

What I think many people have a tendency to forget is that the MAJORITY of people, meaning people who don't follow the lottery and people who don't post on sites like this, wouldn't really know what the winner looks like, or care. And even if they read the paper and watch the winner on the 11 o'clock news, they eventually forget about them.  If someone wins and they decide to move to London, England, they could live in absolute anonymity since practically no one over there would know who they are. Or if a winner in NY decides to move to LA, people in California wouldn't know who they are. Their anonymity is retained.

The idea of lost anonymity is blown completely out of proportion. It's a little strange to assume that EVERYONE knows who you are just because you won the state lottery, when in actuality most people forget who you are amidst the hustle and bustle of daily life. If you're a lottery addict, I can see how one could confuse their knowledge for the knowledge of millions of other everyday people who don't care about such things.

Yeah until someone does a search on their search engine of choice and finds your name and the press release and then the gossip starts or the cons show up and you get sacks of mail from people writing letters. It's not about the average, apathetic person.

It only takes one person opening their mouth for gossip to snowball into something bigger. Again, it's not the majority that's the problem.

"Yeah until someone does a search on their search engine of choice and finds your name and the press release"

First, how much time do you spend doing searches on neighbors and strangers? Even so, if finding your name and a press release allows people to find *you* you're almost certainly the type of moron who wouldn't have been any better off if you'd been allowed to remain anonymous. Who are the first people we think of when we look for lottery winners who turned out to be major losers? Jack Whittaker and David Edwards? Tell me about a problem either of them had that they didn't bring on themselves. If Whittaker hadn't won the lottery, but still went to bars with 500k in a briefcase in his car, the only thing that would have hapened differently, is that the story would have been in fewer newspapers.

"No one should be forced to identify themselve to outsiders."

Lottery winners aren't forced to identify themselves to outsiders, or anyone else. It's a strictly voluntary choice. Nobody will force you to claim the prize under the rules you agreed to when you bought the ticket.

I personally don't spend any time doing that but there are A LOT of people who do, obviously you likely won't be looking for a job but many employers do it as part of a background check now, never underestimate the curiosity and flat out nosiness of people. You've missed the point, tell me if YOU had the option of anonymity would you or would you not take it? Oh sure, just because your name and that photo of you with the big dumb smile on your face holding a novelty check is going to going to be spread over the internet and will likely be online forever doesn't mean you'll ever have someone you've met in whatever area you've moved to come across it after looking up your name on a boring, rainy afternoon. Then there are those who for some reason don't move out of their current communities but nether the less, you WILL be a target if your name is out there. Do you really think it's difficult for someone who's interested in finding you to actually do so?

Of course David and Jack's problems were largely self caused but once again that isn't the point. They made spectacles of themselves, they put themselves in the spotlight and continued to do so with their stupidity (though apparently Jack had left large sums of money in his vehicles before he won) but that doesn't mean the people didn't come out of the woodwork looking for their piece and would have even if everything that happened to them and their families didn't. Personally along with everything else the other thing I learned from them and other "lottery losers" is to keep your face out of the spotlight.

Yeah, if you have to do the press conference to receive the cash, so be it because then it's hello name change!  But you'd be a fool to not see what your options were before doing so putting your goofy mug in front of the cameras.

"You've missed the point"

I'd say you've missed the point.

"Do you really think it's difficult for someone who's interested in finding you to actually do so?"

Yes, if you don't want to be found. What would you do if you won? Go to the press conference looking exactly as you've looked for the last 5 years? Get a landline and put your name in the phone book, and then put your name on your mailbox with 3" letters? Just as an exercise you might try googling some of the people you know. Normal people who aren't trying to be inconspicuous often have little or no web presence.

I'm also rather skeptical that very many people are going to be doing random google searches on their neighbors or people they meet in relatively normal situations. Old flames, people from school, former coworkers? Sure. Random people who don't give them a good reason? Not likely. The occasional nutjob? Sure, but how many of them do you think you'd be interacting with? The only realistic threat would be from people who know your real name, have some motivation to google you, and find a reference identifying you as a lottery winner. That might be a problem in paranoid fantasies, but in the realworld of somebody who wants to keep alow profile (and isn't an idiot), it's just not very likely.

"you'd be a fool to not see what your options were before doing so putting your goofy mug in front of the cameras."

Not considering your options in any serious endeavor makes you a fool. Living in NY, my practical options don't include claiming anonymously or playing in a state where that's allowed. I'm certainly not going to waste my time worrying about what I can't change just because there's an incredibly slim chance that I might win a jackpot. If I should happen to win, having my name and a picture of me from a press conference easily available to people won't be a problem at all. I won't look the same, and I won't be living in the place the lottery told people I lived. The DMV, the IRS, and a few financial institutions will know where my legal residence is. Some friends and family will have a working phone number and know where I'll be found when I'm at home. It's very unlikely that anyone else will be able to locate me, even if they're willing to go to a lot of trouble. Above all, I won't look rich, or like I'm an easy target for somebody looking for an easy mark.