Would you remain anonymous if you won the lottery?

Would you remain anonymous if you won the lottery?

Everyone dreams of it: purchasing that small piece of paper with the winning numbers printed on it and receiving the life-changing £230 million jackpot. But what happens after you win?

Imagine winning a seriously big lottery with a massive cash prize. There’s no doubt that your life would change in many positive ways.

Some people do not care for the attention that comes with winning a big jackpot, nor wants it, and prefer simply to keep the news to themselves. In the UK you can keep your anonymity. So, if keeping your windfall to yourself is your preference, you are in luck – you can do just so!

The question is, would YOU stay anonymous? Well, let’s look at lottery winner’s stories and you can make your mind up later.

Why do lottery winners choose to remain anonymous?

It may seem intimidating trying to envisage what would happen if you won a large amount of money. You may suddenly find certain family members and friends you haven’t seen in a long time start reappearing in your life.

Believe it or not, there are benefits to going public. The issue with trying to keep something like winning a secret, is that eventually the truth will come out. Even if you only tell one person, that person will no doubt, soon enough, spread the big news themselves. This will just end up turning out messy.

Another drawback to keeping quiet is the potential half-truths and stories that you have to tell people around you to explain the sudden arrival of so much money. Normally, if you make a gentle announcement in a contained environment, in most cases, the excitement will die down more quickly, allowing you to go back to your life in peace.

Lottery winners who stayed anonymous

“A. Campbell"

Some lottery winners go to great lengths to ensure their anonymity is secured. One lottery winner in 2019 who won the U.S Super Lotto jackpot of $158,400,000, took that to a scary new level. He did this when collecting his grand prize by wearing a ghostly costume from the 1996 horror movie “Scream”.

He hid under a persona called A. Campbell and arrived at the Spanish Court Hotel in Kingston to pick up his giant cheque in front of the paparazzi. He wore a mask, along with a long coat, trousers and gloves without ever showing his face. Although he wanted to keep anonymous, he clearly wasn’t shy with providing a little bit of a show – we’re not complaining though!

“Mr Anonymous”

Although remaining anonymous has its advantages, in some cases, winners later on consider if staying anonymous was the correct decision later on in life and live with a sense of guilt.

An American man won $55 million in the Californian lottery remained anonymous about his winnings and never told anyone or donated any cash to charity his whole life. The winner eventually confessed his decision to a financial agony uncle where he seemed to be feeling somewhat guilty to the win and asks if he was unfair to keep the millions all to himself.

The life changing cash prize put the winner on the ladder next to some of the richest celebrities on the planet, however he admits to only buying a “new truck and a house. In his letter to this financial agony uncle he explains, “I have kept a low profile. I did buy a new truck and a house, but I told them I was renting the house. Was I wrong not to tell anyone?”

Do you think he was wrong not to tell anyone?

Lottery winners who chose to NOT remain anonymous

On the other hand, some winners intend on staying anonymous, but they do not follow through with their plan.

Christine & Colin Weir

One EuroMillions winner Christine Weir and her husband, won the £161 million jackpot in July 2011. They explained that they would have preferred to stay anonymous but soon realised it wasn’t as easy as they thought it would be.

Christine stated,: “We wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the experience if we had constructed lies to tell our nearest and dearest.” Since going public with their winnings, not only did they live a life of comfort, but their friends and charitable trusts benefited from their winnings and kindness too. They also passed on money to their two adult children.

Julie Jeffrey

Another British lottery winner, Julie Jeffrey who won £1 million, stated that she “went public for the same reason to the majority of people do – there is nowhere to hide.”

Since choosing not to stay anonymous, the couple have managed to pay off their mortgage, give money to family and create a trust fund away for their two children. A very sweet story indeed.

Bet on the best lottery jackpots at Lottoland and you could become the next lottery winner

Today you can bet on the best lottery jackpots at Lottoland to give you the chance to become the next lottery winner, whether you chose to stay anonymous or not.

Lottoland gives you the chance to bet on MINI Lotto for as little as 35p for a potential of winning a whopping £70,000! It also offers you the chance to bet on the BIGGEST Irish Lotto Jackpot of all time at £16.1 million and the PowerBall with a massive jackpot of £230 million!

You can further increase your chances by betting on lotteries that occur every 4 minutes such as KeNow with a jackpot of £1 million and Keno 24/7 with a jackpot of £10 million. Additionally, you can bet on bet on Multi Keno to increase your chances of winning £43,000.

Lottoland also offers the chance to bet every hour with Millionaire GO! with a chance to win a jackpot of £25 million and Cash4life with a jackpot of £1,000 every day! Allowing you to increase your chances of becoming the next millionaire as best as possible.

However, there are plenty more lottos available with Lottoland listed on their website that you can check out here https://www.lottoland.co.uk/lotteries.

How does Lottoland guarantee my privacy and anonymity?

Lottoland offers multiple layers of privacy protection to everybody. Firstly, all personal details that Lottoland collect are those only required by law and your user data and transactions are all securely encrypted using the same technology used by leading financial institutions.

As regards your payment details these are not retained by Lottoland, but rather by their payment provider Ayden, who is regularly audited by both MasterCard and Visa.

Lottoland are regularly audited by the UK Gambling Commission (plus the Gibraltar Gambling Commission for other markets). They are also regularly examined to ensure they are fully compliant with European Data Protection laws. So, if it’s your decision to remain anonymous, Lottoland will keep your secret safe and sound.

Do I have to remain anonymous with Lottoland?

No. Lottoland winners can still go public if you so wish. Your win is simply kept private by default because at Lottoland they believe that’s how it ought to be. Going public is therefore done on an “opt-in” basis whereby you will be asked if you would like us to publish a winner story. How much you decide to share with the public is still entirely up to you.

For example, Lottoland had a big winner from the UK in 2017 and although Mr Robson was happy to use his surname when he scooped his big win with Lottoland, he chose to obscure his face. As a Lottoland winner you can choose to stay 100% anonymous if you want, but the choice is always yours.

So now that we’ve got to the end of the article, the question remains, would you choose to stay anonymous? Has your decision changed?

If you are lucky enough to win the top prize playing a European lottery, or if you happen to win one of the biggest Powerball jackpots in history, you may be interested in claiming your prize anonymously. Make sure to get professional legal advisors will help you safeguard your privacy. Good luck!

Please gamble responsibly. You must be over 18 to play the lottery. When the fun stops, stop. Be Gamble Aware – for help and guidance click here.