Thanks. Not sure about those books, though (grin). My operative mantra in all things lottery-related is a quote from the movie, "Catch 22," where Alan Arkin said, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't really coming after you." (grin).
You'll notice that my site doesn't mention the Villegas couple by name ... only the case that screwed them out of their anonymity. Sadly, their names have had more than their fair share of publicity. For those who don't know what we're talking about, HERE is the news story on it. Of course, as the saying goes, "When there's a will, there's a way." Hindsight is a bugger for sure. But it occurred to me that, if they'd suspected this might happen, they could have still retained anonymity by going one step further. Consider this.
What if the Villegas couple legally changed their last names to Gordon first and then had the attorney draw up the trust papers? The "Gordons" could have then opened up a UPS Store mailbox (in Seattle) showing it as their home address on the trust papers. If you've not had one before, UPS mailbox addresses look a lot like apartment addresses. On the UPS side, they could have listed their home address as "c/o the attorney." Their lawyer could have claimed the jackpot in the name of the trust. The media hounds would have requested a records release on the trust - and ended up following the lead to the UPS store (grin). And if they paid a UPS store employee to release the Gordon's home address to them, they'd end up with the "c/o the attorney" address. Point is, by the time the media hounds got to that point, the Villegas couple would have gotten their money and closed the trust account by having their attorney cut a check for its full value to the Villegas's - and started the name-change process to reclaim their original name.
Legal name changes are handled county by county ... and sometimes in one of two jurisdictions (a District Court or a Superior Court). So if a media hound wanted to find out who the Gordons really were, they'd have to check the records of every county in the state - probably starting with King County since that's the address shown on the trust papers. It might take them a heckuva long time before they checked Yakima County records. And a media hound's boss might tell them to stop wasting their time, throwing the newspaper's money away and move on to a newer story. Old news is bad news - and time is money.
I can't see "fraud" being an issue. A legal name-change is not subterfuge, it's a matter of public record. And there's no requirement that trust accounts mention a physical address. I suspect most trust addresses are PO Boxes (or UPS mailboxes) anyway.
FWIW, I once did a legal name change myself in Vancouver. I had a choice of filing the papers in Clark County District Court or Clark County Superior Court. I chose District Court because they were cheaper. No, I didn't do it because I'd won a lottery (grin). I was born "James Alec West." But my stepdad adopted me in the 4th grade, changing my last name to his last name. In 1992, I legally changed it back (long boring story).
On getting your money "overnight" if you simply wait two weeks to redeem the ticket, I'd find that hard to believe. They won't dole out the money until the background checks are complete ... and they can't start the checks until they have a name and Social Security Number to run the checks on. In fact, if someone legally changed their name first, I'd guess the background check process would take longer - since they'd have to reconcile two identities - the former name and the new "legal" name.