# How would a mega-lottery winner remain anonymous? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 30, 2012, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221 "2012-03-30T00:06:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/21 "2012-03-30T17:37:01Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Can you just get a P.O. Box in some far flung town and use that as your official address? Maybe. But your current information is already pretty much already out there. I’m guessing it wouldn’t take long for some people to figure out where you actually live. If you planned ahead a few years, I could see it working, but getting a PO Box after winning the lottery won’t change your existing entry in the phone book or any cached web pages or any databases of public information any company has collected. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/22 "2012-03-30T17:55:18Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Maybe. But your current information is already pretty much already out there. I’m guessing it wouldn’t take long for some people to figure out where you actually live. > > If you planned ahead a few years, I could see it working, but getting a PO Box after winning the lottery won’t change your existing entry in the phone book or any cached web pages or any databases of public information any company has collected. Yeah, that information about your real address will still be out there. But if you get a P.O. Box in Shelbyville, the lottery will put out a press release saying Joe Buck of Shelbyville won the jackpot, instead of Joe Buck of Springfield where you actually live. After all they’re not putting out your Social Security number or any other information that would indicate Joe Buck of Shelbyville and the Joe Buck of Springfield are one and the same. Of course, if they’re making you attend the press conference and putting your picture in the papers and on TV, that might not help you much, but it’d still be one way of deflecting at least some of the scammers and leeches who might otherwise come darkening your door. ---
**Author:** ![Any\_Other\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@Any\_Other\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Any_Other_Name)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/23 "2012-03-30T18:31:42Z")
Back in January, a $16 million jackpot went unpaid past the deadline for claiming the prize. A lawyer tried to claim it, representing a trust in Belize. Lotto officials refused to pay without details on who purchased the winning ticket. The deadline for claiming the prize passed with the lawyer refusing to state how he got the ticket and refusing to name his client. The Iowa attorney general has launched a criminal probe. [Iowa Lotto Jackpot goes unpaid.](http://abcnews.go.com/US/lotto-deadline-passes-crime-probe-launched/story?id=15455933#.T3X5nNllgpQ) ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/24 "2012-03-30T18:37:20Z")
Worried about the leeches coming to your door? Hire some minions to answer the door. And screen your phone calls. Or move after winning–to a place with better security… ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/25 "2012-03-30T18:41:59Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > HAH! > > We are at this moment having a bull session at work about how we would spend the money. One of the guys wants to have a throne on his front porch; he’ll sit on it for three hours a day and hear begging supplications from the peasants after his picture is shown accepting a ~$600 million check. I had planned to take the opposite approach. At the big check function I would say often and loudly the following statement. My soundbite will be - Something like "\*\* Shout an appeal - kill the deal\*\* " My explanation to the reporters will be - "I will be charitable and will invest my winnings, but there is one steadfast rule that I will follow unwaveringly - I WILL NOT GIVE MONEY TO ANYONE WHO ASKS ME FOR IT! Any disbursement of my funds will originate with my advisory team that is also instructed to disqualify any requests for funds they receive." So friends, relatives, strangers, charities may still benefit from my good fortune but they better stay out of my face or they will be eliminated from eligibility. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/26 "2012-03-31T02:21:41Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > Your example did make me wonder the following: how does a state in a multi-state lottery like the Mega Millions know that it’s able to tax the prize recipient? Does it go by the domicile of the claimant? Where the ticket was sold? Some other test? Could multiple states have a claim? According to my local paper (The Atlanta Journal Constitution), tax is owed to the state where the ticket was purchased. ---
**Author:** ![bizerta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@bizerta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizerta)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/27 "2012-03-31T12:40:49Z")
If the winner remained anonymous … How do you know there really was a winner? Maybe the state employees split the money and “pretended” that the winner was anonymous. In other words, the requirement to disclose the names of winners confirms the fact that there are, indeed, winners. ---
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/28 "2012-03-31T12:51:27Z")
> [@bizerta](#): > > If the winner remained anonymous … How do you know there really was a winner? Maybe the state employees split the money and “pretended” that the winner was anonymous. > > In other words, the requirement to disclose the names of winners confirms the fact that there are, indeed, winners. Re my original post: I didn’t mean to conceal the fact there was a winner; I mean to keep the winner’s identity **private**. I’ve learned that **state laws vary** , but in most states, a likely technique would be to form a blind trust, which is revocable. The trust’s attorney would then present the winning ticket, with the winnings going into the blind trust. Info about the blind trust **is not public information**. In a few states, the “real” winner’s identity might have to be disclosed only to a state official(s) who must check whether the “real” winner owes child support or something, but other than that, privacy can be maintained. ---
**Author:** ![bizerta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@bizerta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizerta)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/29 "2012-03-31T14:04:15Z")
> [@LynnM](#): > > Re my original post: I didn’t mean to conceal the fact there was a winner; I mean to keep the winner’s identity **private**. … I understand that, but without knowing who the winner was, how do you know there really was a winner? ---
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/30 "2012-03-31T14:27:03Z")
> [@bizerta](#): > > I understand that, but without knowing who the winner was, how do you know there really was a winner? Per established lottery procedure/law: In the blind trust example, the attorney presents the winning ticket to state lottery authorities. They examine and validate the ticket. In addition, every lottery ticket sold can be identified as to numbers played; the specific machine that issued the ticket; and date/time ticket was sold. In other words, the existence of a winning ticket proves there was a winner. Right? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/31 "2012-03-31T15:36:23Z")
> [@LynnM](#): > > Per established lottery procedure/law: In the blind trust example, the attorney presents the winning ticket to state lottery authorities. They examine and validate the ticket. > > In addition, every lottery ticket sold can be identified as to numbers played; the specific machine that issued the ticket; and date/time ticket was sold. > > In other words, the existence of a winning ticket proves there was a winner. Right? You can’t do this in most of the Mega Millions states no matter how much you wish this was true. The actual owner(s) of the ticket need to claim it. No proxies or trusts are allowed to be a claimant. ---
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/32 "2012-03-31T16:10:48Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > You can’t do this in most of the Mega Millions states no matter how much you wish this was true. The actual owner(s) of the ticket need to claim it. No proxies or trusts are allowed to be a claimant. Maybe I should have stated explicitly what I had assumed was obvious: Lottery laws vary by state and if a state does not allow individual anonymity, then it would not be possible. Right? [http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-06/news/ct-met-anonymous-lottery-20111106\_1\_lottery-winners-illinois-lottery-lottery-jackpot](http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-06/news/ct-met-anonymous-lottery-20111106_1_lottery-winners-illinois-lottery-lottery-jackpot) After buying the winning ticket at a gas station in Tinley Park in June, the couple contacted Agnew and created a limited liability company, or LLC. About a month after the winning numbers were announced, the prize was awarded to Spring River LLC, allowing the couple to collect their winnings while keeping their names private. The couple are the first winners in the lottery’s history to claim a prize as an LLC, **but they are among about 20 percent of the $1 million-plus prize winners in Illinois who form a legal entity to claim their money**. The extra step can allow winners to keep their riches out of the spotlight or create tax benefits, said Lisa Crites, legal assistant with the state lottery. xxx [http://www.lotterypost.com/news/194766](http://www.lotterypost.com/news/194766) The owner of a winning Mega Millions ticket claimed their prize Friday. But the identity of the winner won’t be made public after two attorneys claimed the prize **on behalf of a blind trust** — which Ohio law allows. Chillicothe attorney Deborah Barrington and Columbus attorney Ronald Rowland, cotrustees of The Ross County Beneficiary Trust, claimed the $75.6 million prize for the winner at the Ohio Lottery’s offices in Cleveland. xxx [http://www.lotterypost.com/news/177222](http://www.lotterypost.com/news/177222) The $196 million lottery prize for a Mega Millions ticket sold in the Clermont County village of Amelia in May was claimed Friday by a lawyer on behalf of an undisclosed client. **The ticket was submitted for The Anthony Trust** , said a spokeswoman for the Ohio Lottery. The name of the winner is known to Ohio officials, who will check for possible unpaid child support or unpaid state taxes, said Ohio Lottery spokeswoman Marie Kilbane. An exception to the Ohio Public Records Act means state officials don’t have to reveal the identity of the winner if a so-called blind trust is created, Kilbane said. “ **Not every state has it** ,” Kilbane said of a procedure for setting up such a trust for lottery winners. “Here in Ohio, it’s a way that players can keep their anonymity. It’s typically only done for extremely high prize winnings.” ---
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/33 "2012-03-31T16:40:57Z")
Addendum–of some relevance: > **[Mega Millions Winning Tickets Sold in Maryland, Kansas, Illinois](https://abcnews.go.com/Business/mega-millions-winning-numbers-ticket-sold-maryland/story?id=16040303)** > > The Maryland lottery reports a winning Mega Millions ticket has been sold in Baltimore County. The identity of the winner and the store that sold the ticket are still unknown. Illinois and Kansas also reported winners in the record $640 million... […] Three lucky ticket holders in **Maryland** , **Illinois** and Kansas will share a $640 million prize, the largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history. The three tickets matched all five numbers including the megaball number. Friday’s winning numbers were: 2, 4, 23, 38, 46, and megaball 23. Before taxes, lottery officials said each winning jackpot ticket was expected to be worth more than $213 million. The Maryland lottery reported a winning ticket was sold in Baltimore County. The ticket was purchased at a 7-11 store in Milford, Md. The identity of the winner is still unknown. **In Maryland, lottery winners have the option to remain anonymous**. ---
**Author:** ![bizerta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@bizerta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizerta)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/34 "2012-03-31T20:51:08Z")
> [@LynnM](#): > > In other words, the existence of a winning ticket proves there was a winner. Right? No. Do you believe everything every government employee tells you? Full disclosure doesn’t prevent fraud; it just makes it easier to detect. ---
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/35 "2012-03-31T23:17:42Z")
> [@bizerta](#): > > No. Do you believe everything every government employee tells you? > > Full disclosure doesn’t prevent fraud; it just makes it easier to detect. When they go public, contact the recent Mega winners. And if the Maryland and Illinois winners use a trust to claim their prizes, contact the trust’s attorneys and express your doubts to them. I’m sure they’d love to talk to you. In the meantime, maybe you should…talk to someone else about this? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/36 "2012-04-01T17:14:48Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > According to my local paper (The Atlanta Journal Constitution), tax is owed to the state where the ticket was purchased. That presents an interesting jurisdictional question. I live in WV, but only six miles from the PA border. If I drove to PA and purchased a winning ticket, how in the hell would PA have jurisdiction to tax my winnings? I bought the ticket there, but it didn’t have the value until the numbers were drawn. And at that time (if I won) I would have been sitting in WV. I would contend that the income from that ticket was realized entirely within the state of WV, no matter where I bought the ticket. I’m sure that a tax lawyer can tell me why I’m wrong and why 14 different states could make me pay taxes on that money, but I think that a state that you aren’t physically present in when the numbers are drawn could have no claim to taxes on those winnings. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/37 "2012-04-01T17:27:57Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I’m sure that a tax lawyer can tell me why I’m wrong and why 14 different states could make me pay taxes on that money, but I think that a state that you aren’t physically present in when the numbers are drawn could have no claim to taxes on those winnings. What if the rules for MegaMillions state that you pay taxes (if necessary) in the State where you bought the ticket? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/38 "2012-04-01T17:32:18Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > What if the rules for MegaMillions state that you pay taxes (if necessary) in the State where you bought the ticket? I would claim that those terms are unconscionable. Unless, perhaps, I only have to pay in the one state and not both. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/39 "2012-04-01T17:34:24Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I would claim that those terms are unconscionable. Unless, perhaps, I only have to pay in the one state and not both. I can’t imagine that you would have to pay in more than one state. It must be one or the other. I know that CA doesn’t tax lottery winnings at all. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221/40 "2012-04-01T17:41:19Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I can’t imagine that you would have to pay in more than one state. It must be one or the other. I know that CA doesn’t tax lottery winnings at all. It seems like if that were the case, then a person could make a good business buying lottery tickets in a state like CA and mailing them to residents of other states that tax lottery winnings. If the terms state that you pay income tax in the state where the ticket was purchased, and no other state, then we could all buy tax-free (state tax) tickets. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-a-mega-lottery-winner-remain-anonymous/617221.md?page=3)