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Is your reason for anonymity to avoid lawsuits?

Yes - I have real reason to fear a lawsuit.

[ 3 ]

[ 4.8% ]

Yes - I fear frivolous lawsuits of any kind.

[ 12 ]

[ 19.4% ]

No - I want anonymity for other reasons.

[ 41 ]

[ 66.1% ]

No - I don't care about anonymity anyhow.

[ 6 ]

[ 9.7% ]

Total valid votes

[ 62 ]

Discarded votes

[ 4 ]

frbl

United States
Member #38,907
May 7, 2006
27 Posts
Offline

Feb 15, 2009, 4:45 pm

We have all done something stupid in our lives for which others would like to get some revenge - jilted lovers/spouses, friendships ended badly, bad bets, business deals gone bad, etc.

Of course, some people might threaten to sue you for simply looking at them funny - and now you have money and are a clear target.

Would you want to claim a major jackpot anonymously primarily because you fear a lawsuit or two or three (hundred!)?? Jack Whittaker was a target for sure - deserving or not.

Or does it fall much lower on your list of reasons to claim anonymously or not?

I wanna die in my sleep - like my grandfather.
Not screaming and yelling - like the passengers in his car.
justxploring

Wandering Aimlessly
United States
Member #25,359
November 5, 2005
4,461 Posts
Offline

Feb 15, 2009, 6:38 pm

I've done more than one stupid thing in my life. However, the main reason I wouldn't want my name or photo in the news is for safety purposes.
iGlenn

United States
Member #61,230
May 16, 2008
126 Posts
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Feb 15, 2009, 8:42 pm

I'm an introvert and have no desire for fame or attention. I buy my tickets in Delaware so it wouldn't be a problem for me to stay anonymous.
diamondpalace

United States
Member #60,282
April 12, 2008
3,857 Posts
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Feb 15, 2009, 11:13 pm

For safety of my family and myself. Fame is overrated.
ThatScaryChick

Idaho
United States
Member #56,504
November 21, 2007
8,004 Posts
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Feb 16, 2009, 1:47 am

I would rather remain anonymous not because I fear a lawsuit, but because I just don't want the extra attention.

"X - youtube - steam - instagram"

ThatScaryChick
KY Floyd

NY
United States
Member #23,834
October 16, 2005
4,775 Posts
Offline

Feb 16, 2009, 1:55 am

The reason to be anonymous is to reduce the number of people who ask for money. It's very unlikely to make a difference in the number of frivoulous lawsuits that might come your way. Knowing you have money could make you a more attractive target, but it's your actions that make you a target in the first place. Even Jack Whittaker only managed to be sued by a few people, and he seems to have been very good at making himself a target. That makes me think I'd have very little to worry about.

What I would be concerned about are legitimate lawsuits. Winning a lottery isn't likely to make you a better driver, for instance, and if somebody has a legitimate reason to sue you, having claimed anonymously won't be a factor when their lawyer checks to see whether or not you're likely to be a worthwhile target. One of the many reasons to have good insurance coverage is that you won't be the one paying the bills for defending against any lawsuits that would require your insurance to pay if you lose. It's rare for a plaintiff to collect much more than the available insurance coverage, but anyone who has a few million in assets and doesn't have a hefty umbrella policy is an idiot.
grengrad

Raleigh
United States
Member #49,055
January 17, 2007
172 Posts
Offline

Feb 16, 2009, 10:25 am

Winning makes you a public target, which would.

1. Make me question whether new friends or relationships were really about me or the money I won.

2. Put my friends and family in danger.

3. Make me a target for beggars and scammers.
time*treat

United States
Member #13,130
March 30, 2005
2,171 Posts
Offline

Feb 16, 2009, 5:33 pm

Quote: Originally posted by diamondpalace on Feb 15, 2009
For safety of my family and myself. Fame is overrated.

There are too many people in the world who are both stupid and greedy. That combination makes them dangerous.

In neo-conned Amerika, bank robs you.
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms should be the name of a convenience store, not a govnoment agency.
Coin Toss

Zeta Reticuli Star System
United States
Member #30,469
January 17, 2006
11,791 Posts
Offline

Feb 16, 2009, 6:05 pm

I'd prefer to remain anonymous so as not to hear from the 675,000 "cousins" that surface when someone wins a jackpot.

David Lee Edwards, famous for saying, "You can't fix stupid" - who won a jackpot, bought a home in Florida and lost it because he stopped paying his association fees, said when he won he was getting sacks of mail everyday addressed to "Lottery winner" and asked the post office to stop delivering it. They said they had to because they knew where he lived and who it was intended for. He estimated he had received over 50,000 letters.

That was just anil mail, so you can imagine all the other requests and solicitations.

Those who run the lotteries love it when players look for consistency in something that's designed not to have any. So many systems, so many theories, so few jackpot winners.

There is one and only one 'proven' system, and that is to book the action. No matter the game, let the players pick their own losers.
justxploring

Wandering Aimlessly
United States
Member #25,359
November 5, 2005
4,461 Posts
Offline

Feb 16, 2009, 6:29 pm

Coin Toss, is this really true? I mean, that's like addressing a letter to Santa Claus. Does the USPS have to deliver all of that mail too?

When I receive mail addressed to "Resident" I just write on the envelope "He doesn't live here any more. Please forward."
MaddMike51

United States
Member #58,526
February 18, 2008
710 Posts
Offline

Feb 16, 2009, 7:21 pm

Quote: Originally posted by justxploring on Feb 16, 2009
Coin Toss, is this really true? I mean, that's like addressing a letter to Santa Claus. Does the USPS have to deliver all of that mail too?

When I receive mail addressed to "Resident" I just write on the envelope "He doesn't live here any more. Please forward."

I write "deceased" on junk mail.I have to take it the Post office drive-thru because the mailman won't pick up the junkmail from my mailbox.
grengrad

Raleigh
United States
Member #49,055
January 17, 2007
172 Posts
Offline

Feb 17, 2009, 9:29 am

Quote: Originally posted by MaddMike51 on Feb 16, 2009
I write "deceased" on junk mail.I have to take it the Post office drive-thru because the mailman won't pick up the junkmail from my mailbox.

Don't you guys have trash cans? :)
MaddMike51

United States
Member #58,526
February 18, 2008
710 Posts
Offline

Feb 17, 2009, 10:10 am

Quote: Originally posted by grengrad on Feb 17, 2009
Don't you guys have trash cans? :)

No,no trash cans here.I used to have a spare room where I stashed the junk mail.My insurance man stopped by one day and raised my rates because that room qualified as a fire hazard.I was forced to write "deceased" on the front of all that junk mail and send it back where it originated from.My insurance rates went back down.But I got writers cramp in my right hand.Now I get very little junk mail from that publishing house in New York and that record club in Terre Haute,Indiana.Not to mention all of those preapproved credit card offers!
myturn

Bondi Junction
Australia
Member #57,240
December 24, 2007
1,102 Posts
Offline

Feb 17, 2009, 11:51 pm

I would wish to remain anonymous for the simple reason, I would not want to be treated differently for before. At every conversation people would say, "well, you can afford it". I can imagine that would get very tiring. I don't talk about my income, or ask others about their incomes, so why talk about additional income from a lottery win?
BaristaExpress

Magnolia, Delaware
United States
Member #18,794
July 20, 2005
789 Posts
Offline

Feb 18, 2009, 6:34 am

Quote: Originally posted by MaddMike51 on Feb 17, 2009
No,no trash cans here.I used to have a spare room where I stashed the junk mail.My insurance man stopped by one day and raised my rates because that room qualified as a fire hazard.I was forced to write "deceased" on the front of all that junk mail and send it back where it originated from.My insurance rates went back down.But I got writers cramp in my right hand.Now I get very little junk mail from that publishing house in New York and that record club in Terre Haute,Indiana.Not to mention all of those preapproved credit card offers!

Hey Mike, put anything you get with a pre-paid envelope in that envelope and send it back to them! Let them pay for getting their junk mail back and they will almost stop sending you their junk mail! I have been doing it for years and my junk mail has almost come to a complete stop from the credit card companies and the Columbia house type clubs! And Mike, some companies just don't get it and keep sending you their junk anyway and I keep sending it all back to them in their pre-paid envelope!

Keep dreaming the impossible dream, it just may come true!

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