$1.08 billion Powerball lottery winner Yanira Alvarez filed claim for jackpot over five months ago

Comment #25

Artist77 — Sun, 21 Apr 2024 13:17:35 GMT

I never understood why some people continue playing the lottery if they think it is a scam and makes them unhappy.

It is for entertainment purposes only.

Comment #24

Brock Lee — Sat, 20 Apr 2024 23:28:33 GMT

look mom, another conspiracy theorist

Comment #23

JustMaybe — Sat, 20 Apr 2024 17:06:55 GMT

I like the thought There's also a chance they'll play the same numbers later and you have zero chance of winning the whole jackpot.

Never thought about it that way - makes alot of sense.

Comment #22

WhoaMama — Sat, 20 Apr 2024 16:33:24 GMT

Possibly the winner in ca and Oregon is going to end up the next eddie Tipton? Oof.

I play these games and someone in CA or OR has to make it not any of us average Joe's who play HONESTLY win

Comment #21

justadream — Sat, 20 Apr 2024 15:21:28 GMT

I'm going to guess the vetting process could be lengthy IF the winner is from another country.

Comment #20

KY Floyd — Sat, 20 Apr 2024 06:10:48 GMT

Do they expect someone to remember where and when he/she bought every ticket?

Did you notice the part that said If details about the purchase don't line up, this could be cause for further investigation ? They expect people who won very large sums of money to remember some of the details, but if you don't they'll normally just look at it a bit more closely. There's a big difference between establishing that the claimant is the owner and establishing that the claimant isn't the owner, so unl... [ More ]

Comment #19

JustMaybe — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 21:19:42 GMT

That is why I hesitate to buy rescue tickets those that are printed by mistake and the cashier sells them to another person.

If the ticket happens to win the jackpot and it was printed 3 hours ago, if they use the video footage you won't be the person on the screen when the ticket was printed.

Now you have to explain all that rescue stuff and who knows if they will believe the story. Very tricky.

Again if you buy tickets in different stores and don't get a receipt, you may not know w... [ More ]

Comment #18

lowerPB-MModds! — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 20:48:18 GMT

I thought a lottery ticket is a bearer's instrument (it is written so on the back of many tickets). Some basic vetting is appropriate (i.e., where when did you buy this ticket?), but police interviews, checking the store's video feed, waiting months to award you the money, etc.) is way over-the-top. It seems like nowadays they (the state lotteries) can potentially come up with any reason for refusing to give you the money you won, and I think that's way too much power for them when in fact WE (l... [ More ]

Comment #17

Kandiapple — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 20:11:19 GMT

I am so confused by this. It takes the California lottery from October 16 2023 to March 29 2024 (165 days) to verify the winner and collect the money to give the winner their payment ?

I have never heard of this before even with previous major jackpot winners in other states and California. I can understand keeping the privacy for lottery winners. But I don t like the lack of transparency from the lottery and generic answers or talking around the question.

It s just like how Powerba... [ More ]

Comment #16

zephbe — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 20:11:11 GMT

I have talk and text on my phone. Have no idea if it tracks me. Never used it for that.

Comment #15

sully16 — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 19:44:21 GMT

Good point, California just usually has wild fires for Federal cash.

Comment #14

cottoneyedjoe — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 19:26:56 GMT

I would have given the clerk that ticket and just tell the truth that I found it left behind in the machine. Maybe the clerk knows who to return it to because it's a regular customer, maybe not. Either way, it's out of my hands. If the clerk is dishonest enough to try to claim it as her own, she won't get very far because of the time stamp and security footage. Not my monkeys not my circus, as they say.

Comment #13

goldfish777 — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 19:17:46 GMT

Thanks for the reply. You're right. Last time I bought some tickets for the big jackpot and there was a left behind ticket tossed in with mine which had a power play or something. I never pay the extra dollar for those but after turning in a ticket to a clerk that clearly was going to keep it for herself I kept it but was stressed of the headache if I did win with it. Lol

Comment #12

cottoneyedjoe — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 19:11:06 GMT

It depends on your state. You could email them and ask what to do in that situation. Tickets for draw games are time stamped pretty precisely, so I don't see how you'd get away with claiming one you didn't purchase. Scratchers are iffy because they're not timestamped, but they are serial numbered. What if you bought a bunch of scratchers at a vending machine and accidentally picked up another one someone else had left behind in the receptacle? Good questions.

Personally, I don't pick up lott... [ More ]

Comment #11

goldfish777 — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 18:47:37 GMT

Congratulations to her, that seems like a stressful process to go through ( BUT! I'm willing to do it!! Lol ).

I'm wondering if found tickets are eligible to be claimed?

For example I have found multiple tickets in lotto machines when purchasing my own due to the fact that the lotto machines in my state are old and have a glitch that the last ticket you buy doesn't fall down, it stays stuck and you need to reach in there and pull it out manually.

When I first moved here I lost ticke... [ More ]

Comment #10

Brock Lee — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 18:44:40 GMT

i doubt it took 5 months to vet her. i bet she asked the lottery not to reveal her name until she had enough time to pack up herself and her family out of that ghetto.

Comment #9

soothsayer — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 18:31:24 GMT

Yep, something sure smells fishy here.

All lotteries have instant access to DOR records to verify whether any claimant has any liens or judgements against them on file.

I would certainly ask both the California lottery and the Powerball commission when and how all those monies collected were disbursed.

Does the MUSL( Powerball and Mega Millions) hold onto that money UNTIL a verified ticket has been presented ?

Follow the money.

Figures don't lie.

Liars sure can figu... [ More ]

Comment #8

Tony Numbers — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 17:58:06 GMT

The reason for disclosing the name of the jackpot winner is to validate the integrity of the lottery game. Since the lottery has this vetting process in order to confirm that the winner is the legitimate holder of the winning ticket why does anyone else need to know who this person is? You played, you lost, let's move on to the next one.

Comment #7

CDanaT — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 17:31:25 GMT

Makes the claim on 10-16-2023 and it takes 5 1/2 months to process it ???

But...But, the CA lottery said, it typically takes between six and eight weeks from the date the claim was submitted to process it ...6 to 8 weeks ???? hmmmm, let's seeeeeee...That would put it into the 2nd week of DEC at the latest.......

It goes to the end of March, 2024 ???........ $558 million sitting idle from July ,2023 . I wonder who had complete control of that amount of money for 8 months and just how mu... [ More ]

Comment #6

Perfecttiming2 — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 17:18:52 GMT

Years ago there was an incident in another state in which the jackpot was over $80M (a record at that time) and a woman claimed she had dropped the ticket outside of the store that was identified as being the seller of the winning ticket.

She did this because the real winner had not yet come forward and the media was creating a frenzy over what was taking so long (it really wasn't long at all but people were excited about the wining jackpot).

People flocked to the store and news crews vi... [ More ]

Comment #5

Lotterologist — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 15:53:01 GMT

Very interesting...

Thanks

Comment #4

cottoneyedjoe — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 15:34:26 GMT

Retailers have security cameras and sometimes the machines themselves also have cameras. That would prove you bought the tickets even if you couldn't remember exactly where or when. Worst case scenario, if the lottery demanded an absurd level of precision that you couldn't provide, you could sue them to pay out the prize. I doubt they would refuse to pay out a prize because you couldn't remember whether or not you bought a bag of Cheetos with the ticket.

Comment #3

Artist77 — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 14:25:46 GMT

Routine due diligence to ask where you bought your ticket. Doesn't your phone track your location

Comment #2

zephbe — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 11:41:49 GMT

CA verification process questioning someone about when and where they bought a winning ticket. I buy tickets a lot of different places if I'm running errands. Do they expect someone to remember where and when he/she bought every ticket? That's ridiculous.

Congratulations to the winner. Happy they finally gave you your winnings. Enjoy it.

Comment #1

Bleudog101 — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 11:35:16 GMT

Very well written article.

Could one imagine being before the Judge facing felony charges for attempting to falsify a winning ticket?

I'm slightly confused, maybe too early, IDK. If this the same store where that lady was in that store exclaiming she was the Powerball winner? Then she drove off in her BMW

$1.08 billion Powerball lottery winner Yanira Alvarez filed claim for jackpot over five months ago

Lottery Post — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 10:50:03 GMT

Lottery Post investigates lengthy delay in public announcement

By Kate Northrop

At the end of March, the California Lottery announced Yanira Alvarez as the sole winner of the $1.08 billion Powerball jackpot drawn on July 16, 2023, but it turns out the winner presented the winning ticket to lottery officials months earlier.

The California Lottery's official announcement of Yanira Alvarez as the lone winner of the $1.08 billion Powerball jackpot came more than five months after she fil... [ More ]