HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, lawmaker unveiled legislation Friday that would allow lottery winners to keep their identities hidden from the public.
State Rep. Ted Harhai, D-58, Monessen, said he believes the proposal would help lottery winners avoid the pitfalls that have plagued many past prize winners, from alleged murder attempts to thefts and scams.
"I think providing this option is necessary," Harhai said in a statement. "In particular, multi-state lottery jackpots can reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars, and many people, both legitimate and criminal, come out of the woodwork to try to reap some of those winnings for themselves. Allowing winners the option of remaining anonymous is the least we can do to protect them from those who would prey upon them."
Under House Bill 1893, lottery prize winners could decide not to disclose their names to the public. The city and county of the lottery winner would still be released. The legislation would apply to multi-state lottery games, such as Powerball and Mega Millions.
Only a handful of states allow lottery winners to hide their identities. Pennsylvania Lottery spokesman Gary Miller said releasing their names ensures greater transparency and trust in the games.
"The lottery has long viewed the identities of winners as a public record because this protects the lottery's integrity and reassures players that our winners are real people," Miller said. "Anyone who receives a check from the state is technically a public record."
If Harhai's bill advances, Pennsylvania could become the seventh state to grant lottery winners anonymity, along with Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, South Carolina, Kansas and North Dakota.
The Pennsylvania Lottery has not taken a stance on Harhai's bill and will leave it up to the General Assembly to decide on such a policy change, Miller said.
However, the state system has taken some steps to address concerns over the safety of lottery winners. Last spring, after learning some past winners had been targeted by scam artists, the Pennsylvania Lottery stopped posting full names of winners, Miller said. Now, the list only includes the winners' first names, first letter of their last names and counties of residence, unless the winners choose to disclose more details.
The state lottery website has also published a list of tips to help players avoid getting scammed, such as by falling for phony calls and emails that request bank account information or fees to claim a prize.
"We want lottery winners to take common-sense steps to protect themselves against becoming the victims of scam artists," Miller said. "We never require anybody to pay any money or to make a purchase to claim a prize."
This is actually not a bad idea i like to see the pictures but safety first i guess
I definitely support the identities of winners to be hidden.
Good for Pa.
I hope they do
I think all states should do that
Congress asks the WH for stuff all the time and they wont release much
So if they can hide stuff..............why cant a lottery winners name be hidden also
I have always felt that a large lottery winner should have the option to remain anonymous
If they so chose to do so
I also think they should not tax lottery winnings ( like Canada ) but we all know that aint gonna happen
I agree
I am from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania and I support this 100%!
The Greed of Envy & too many crooks make this necessary!
I Love this but only selfishly. I've deliberately gone out of my way to purchase tickets in anonymous Lottery States because if i win i want NO ONE to know. I love this move but its a slippery slope. If i win, i want to remain anonymous. If you win, you want to remain anonymous, fair. But what happens when it all goes 'dark' and no one really knows anyone who wins??? Not good. Its tricky and i'm not sure what the solution is. Maybe it could be set up where if the win is a multi-state pot (PB/MM) then one has the right to remain in the dark, but if its a State Lottery, then it becomes public record? Not ideal but as much as i would love to and would choose to remain anonymous, it'd get a bit interesting to say the least is no one ever anyone who really won. Especially with these jackpots going to the clouds now a days. Both sides have valid points, not sure which i ultimately side with. What's your opinion, please do share...
Won't pass, that would make way to much sense. Silly lawmaker what was he thinking........
This is a great move. Nobody needs to know the identities of the winners. I hope other states also do this.
Independent auditor would be a solution.
I don't think it'll ever "go dark." There are plenty of people out there who relish the spotlight and want their 15 minutes. Idaho Lottery does not require photos or any publicity other than releasing name and city, but go to their web page and it's plastered with photos of people winning up to 100K. A LEO won a few hundred thou a couple years ago, and he did the televised interview and photo ops.
Anybody up to research whether any big winners in anonymous states have chosen to release their names?
This is a great idea, I'm surprised a politician came up with it. Let's see if this great idea goes from legislation to actually making it to the Governor's desk to be signed and become law.
First name last initial seems reasonable for all state lotteries to move to if they currently release full name
This shouldn't even be a question. And the lottery really needs to stop pretending that it's for the sake of transparency. Is anyone really buying that? Both PB and MM changed their structure to pretty much guarantee MUCH larger jackpots. The more money that is involved the crazier people get. The lottery officials should worry less about milking free publicity and more about the safety of the winners. The size of the JP themselves should be enough of a draw. Publicizing the win should be left up to the winner.
As I said yesterday in a discussion, there are enough winners who relish showing off and who love basking in the limelight that the lottery will get to do its capitalizing on the rags to riches story from those who opt to give a press conference. But that should really be the winners' choice, it shouldn't be a forced issue.
They already have an independent auditor. Which is why this has nothing at all to do with transparency and all about the publicity they get from the news conferences. Look what they did to poor Gloria. If publicizing her name, age and address weren't enough, they called the media when she went to the lottery office to fill out her paperwork. It wasn't enough for them to give out her details, they WANTED a camera crew there too. Transparency my backside.
I guess I'm in the minority here: I don't like anonymous.
There's several different levels of publication of winners in different states:
1. Full disclosure: Full name given out in marketing/promotion and cannot be refused.
2. Partial disclosure: Marketing/promotion can be refused, only first name and last initial shown in an initial listing. No picture with ginormous check, no other promos. But person's full name is given out on public records request.
3. Trust option: same as #2, except that if you claim as a trust, only the name of the trust is given out on public records request, not the name of the winner.
4. Anonymous: no disclosure of winner at all.
I'm comfortable with #3 that we have now.
There is a need to know. But if someone really wants to be anonymous, they can form a trust. That way there's some effort required.
And they could even do things like delay public records disclosure, which is done in other cases. Say for about a year or so to give you time to get away, set up your affairs and security.
I was thinking about this the other day. I see both sides, but my main concern would be my safety. I can deal with phone calls, letters, emails and such, but worry about people that find my address and decide to show up at my door.
In California, full names and location are used in their promotional materials.
I like the first name, last name initial method. If I happen to get lucky, I may need to research the trust option.
We need this in New York.
Sorry, but other than us being nosy and wanting to get an insight into the type of person that won, why do you need to know? It certainly isn't any of our business, and it certainly doesn't benefit the person who wins an enormous sum of money. The lottery works just fine in other developed countries who don't reveal the winner's identity, and with $100M or more becoming increasing common, that alone is a big enough draw to get people to play it.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers and other big name accounting firms have been doing audits on lotteries for years, that should be enough for any non-tinfoil hat wearing individual to believe that the lottery and lottery winnres are real.
How much have they claimed they've given to education? Over a billion dollars. Well, I haven't seen them trot out any school officials in front of a camera to vouch that they've actually given up that amount of money, but I do know that since they get audited they can't make that kind of claim without ending up in court.
Therefore, if we have to take their word about how much they donate to schools and the community, why we can take their word about who wins a JP. And notice, they are only interested in the JP winners. I don't see them mandating press conferences or calling for media appearances for the $10,000 winners. They claim X number of people win $10,000, $25,000 etc per week and we take their word on that.
Given all of that, it is patently obviously that transparency is simply an excuse. Your WANT (not need) to know who won a JP should not outweigh that person's personal safety. How many death threats, slashed tires and murders have to be committed to prove that the individual's well-being should supercede a skeptic's doubt?
Anonymity is completely logical. Say you've had a succesful enough career that you live exactly where you want to live in the house you've grown to love. You win the lottery and they release your name, your city, the location of where you purchased your ticket and now it''ll take 30 seconds for someone to find you. As I pointed out to my father the other night, if I win the lottery what's to stop people who know of me going to their house to pester my family about my money when it's got nothing to do with them, but because it's where I was known to have lived growing up, their home is now a target? That's completely unfair. The number one thing lottery winners report is the stress of dealing with all the strangers and long lost acquaintances who heard about your good fortune and convince themselves they're deserving of a hand out for one reason or another, let alone the people willing and wanting to do harm out of jealousy or in an attempt to extort the winner and their families. It's just good sense to keep winners anonymous, let them *choose* to go public or not.
Savagegoose once mentioned that Australian playslips have a NP option - No Publicity or something. Sounds like a great idea.
I figure jackpot winners can either remain anonymous (if allowed by their state) or wish they had remained anonymous.
I don't get people that demand to know who won......sorry, no need to know and not on the access roster.
It's not my right to know, it's the public's right to know what their government is doing with their money.
The lottery is a government run monopoly gambling operation. Wouldn't you like to play pick 3 for $900 str at your local shop? You can't, because the lottery has a monopoly.
Government is corrupt, and requires transparency so that the public and the press can inspect what THEIR government is doing and how funds are being spent. Lottery is essentially fundraising with an entertainment twist, also can be seen as a regressive tax.
Do you think criminals would commit crimes more, less or the same, if they knew nobody was watching? If everything was anonymous and nobody outside the lottery could check, do you think there would there be more fraud or less?
People often criticise celebrities for complaining about, "oh, I can't go around in public anonymously anymore, I'm too rich and famous. Poor me, life is so hard." Well, there are consequences with having all that fame, money and power. you give some things up. Lottery winners expect everything to be the same when they win hundreds of millions of dollars, and that's just not the way the world goes round. Suck it up, and deal with it. Or you can form a trust and hide.
Jon D,
"It's not my right to know, it's the public's right to know what their government is doing with their money."
Then how come so many 'publics' in so many countries are just fine with winners being anonymous - and not taxed? And what about the winner's rights? Should a jackpot winner be innundated with pleas from charities and deals from shysters and who knows what else just because some obnoxioulsy nosey clods somewhere think they have a 'right' to know who won?
If you really think the government has a monopoly on gambling, how come there are so many bookies? There's even bookies in Las Vegas - not the sports books, but bookies. The money legally bet on football in this country is mere chump change compared to what is bet illegally. The Super Bowl is a prime example.
Ever heard of Jessica Savitch? She was an investigative reporter doing a piece on illegal sports betting and her car went down a hill in a 'mudslide' in NJ.
And there are plenty of people still playing "Policy" or "The Number" with their 'man' - you would know these games as Pick 3.
Here's what the bookies know, legal or illegal, players are going to find the action.
You also said,
" If everything was anonymous and nobody outside the lottery could check, do you think there would there be more fraud or less?"
Please then tell us how you explain the states that allow players to be anonymous.
Yes, they have a monopoly on LEGAL lottery gaming. If your argument is based on illegal activity, that is beyond the scope of my argument. Thanks.
Jon D,
Thanks for the reply and you adjusred your statement to legal gambling.
Don't know if he's still active but there was a bookie in NY, dealth with a lot of Wall Street types. His policy was $50,000 minimum bet per game, two game minimum to bet with him. Not exactly an office pool on the Super Bowl here. Oh yeah, both he and his clients preferred remaining anonymous!
Here's a little known fact, bookies are required to get a Federal Tax Stamp (used to cost about $50, not sure now - and who really does this?) but when they get pinched if they get sentenced having the stamp reduces the sentence.
Good idea! Only way is to move near other rich people.
One of the most important decisions for new winners to make is whether to opt to go public or remain anonymous. If a winner decides to talk publicly about their win, Camelot’s PR team will organise a press conference and handle all media interest on their behalf, removing the anxiety that can accompany talking about a big win.
If they have requested to remain anonymous, Camelot takes its obligations and duty of care to protect winners’ privacy very seriously. Unless a winner agrees to take full publicity and signs an agreement to that effect, no information about them can be released by Camelot into the public domain.
Camelot UK Lotteries Ltd are the current UK national lottery operators
Agreed Jon D.
I also don't understand why all winners don't claim in a trust for the protection.
Even just the first letter of someone's last name could be enough to still find them unless they live in well populated county and have a fairly common (or commonly spelled) first name. Still better than your whole name though. It's important to at least have options to protect your identity.