While everyone dreams of winning the lottery, what most people don’t think about is the aftermath of it all.
Anonymity is coveted in events like these — as distant relatives, stalkers and creeps come into the mix when someone wins a large sum of money.
Recipients of the Jamaican Super Lotto have worn both animal masks as well as emoji masks to disguise their identify — fearing harassment if they dare reveal themselves.
One recent winner decided to go another route….
The 17th winner of Jamaica’s Super Lotto finally arrived to pick up his $158.4 million while dressed as the killer Ghostface from Wes Craven’s Scream.
Sporting the iconic Scream mask, the new multi-millionaire additionally wore overalls and black leather gloves.
The man is only referred to as A. Campbell, a possible reference to Neve Campbell who plays Sidney Prescott in the slasher film series.
Before claiming his big win, he became ill after learning about his good fortune — not presenting his ticket for another 54 days.
Campbell, who purchased the ticket in Kingston, shared with the St. Lucia News:
“I looked at my ticket and ran into my bathroom and said, ‘I won! I won!’ From the day I found out that I won, I’ve been sick. My head hurt me for three days because I was thinking so much. [Wondering] if what I’ve been longing for really come true. I had a belly ache for two weeks, sometimes I feel so much pain I forgot that I had won.”
On his plans of moving forward, Campbell shared his dream to find himself a “nice house,” saying:
“I want to get a house, I want to get a nice house. I haven’t found it yet, but I’ll be looking for one soon.”
Campbell had picked out the winning numbers from a dream, interestingly enough!
While some financial experts advice winners of massive prizes to do their best to remain anonymous, only a handful of states allow winners to make that choice.
Some states have a law that explicitly required that lottery winners be publicly identified.
According to Maryland Lottery and Gaming, Delaware, Kansas, Texas, Maryland, North Dakota, Ohio and South Carolina each allow lottery winners to remain anonymous if the winners prefers.
Lottery winners in Arizona of $600 or more can remain anonymous for 90 days after winning their prizes. After 90 days, the winners’ identities become part of the public record, meaning the information about the winner’s identity and the amount of the winning prize is subject to a public records request.
Winner can choose against having their identities released publicly in Georgia but only if their prize is bigger than $250,000.
Most states have laws in tact that allows the lottery that sold the ticket to make that information public.
And while each state differs on how to claim your jackpot earnings, what happens if no one claims the money?
States that do participate get their money back, spending it how they want. Some put it toward education, taxes, infrastructure or law enforcement, while others put it in a pot for future prizes and promotions.
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