““I think it’s the curse of the lottery that your name is out there forever,” said Patrick Nowlin, who lives in southern Wisconsin and won a $41 million Powerball jackpot in 2007. “You’ve always got to keep looking out for a scam. Even after seven years, every once in a while I get a suspicious phone call.”
A handful of lotteries, including those in Delaware, Kansas and Maryland, already allow winners to keep their identities private. Others allow trusts, instead of individuals, to claim prizes. But with sweeping secrecy offered only rarely, critics say the lotteries are exploiting winners by claiming that they are merely guarding the integrity of the games.
“Lottery officials are just more than willing to sell these people out and throw them to the wolves by the publicizing of their faces and their names so they can sell more lottery tickets the next time around,” said Andrew Stoltmann, a lawyer in Chicago who has represented lottery winners. “I think it’s unconscionable that they do it, but there’s a real financial incentive.””
Anonymity should clearly be an option. Like, these arguments are so odd – if the release of the name didn’t make money, I doubt that they would seem nearly so legitimate.
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