Should You Stay Anonymous After Winning A Big Lottery Jackpot? Here's 6 Tips To Protect Yourself
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No hiding here! £161 million Euromillions winner Colin Weir learns about his win. Photo: Daily Mail
Most winners are told to keep their lottery win a secret from the public. What do you think? Would you tell everyone about your win?
While Colin Weir has no problem with going public about his wealth, many winners report they often have problems with other parts of their lives:
- Former partners who think they deserve a share.
- Distant relatives who want a share ("...we're blood after all!").
- News media of every kind - newspapers, tv and the net... who want to interview you and expose where you live and your extravagant shopping habits.
- Kidnappers who know you are fair game... an easy prey.
- Groups and organisations that need funds.
- The needy and the desperate who write begging letters when they have your address.
- Crazies, stalkers and predators (yes, they are out there!)
So how would you do it? Most times a large sum of tens of millions of dollars is hard to hide.
If you stay in your modest neighborhood but suddenly appear in a Ferrari and drive it every day, it won't take long for people to work it out.
There are differing views about whether you should reveal your win. One reader said:
"I'd tell everyone! What's the point of having a bunch of greenbacks if you can't brag about it. Why do you have to hide it, what's going to happen? No-one I know has ever been kidnapped because of their lottery winnings.
Go for it - you can't keep getting a lot of money secret anyhow. What happens when someone asks you how you got your house and how you can afford to take world trips and stuff. Me? The lottery? No, I saved it up from my job which you never see me go to!"
If you do decide to stay hidden under the radar, here's some tips:
1. If you have a business that can be traced to you, sell it. After all, you probably won't need the stress and daily chores that every business has. If it is a profitable business (and very few are), think twice about putting it under management - it could be more trouble managing the manager!
UK lottery winner Adrian Bayford (r) and his business partner Richard Hudspith have had mountains of letters sent to their music store in Haverill. They should have sold it. Photo: Daily Mail
2. Put a privacy block on your phones. Don't use your current cellphones - buy one with a prepaid plan and only give that number to trusted family and friends. Be prepared to throw it away and get another as soon as someone outside your known group rings you.
3. If you plan to stay in your own home, you will face all the problems you've read about here. So you may need to shift. Don't do what most people do and stay with a friend or relative - you can be easily traced by anyone who knows your name. Take a 6 month lease on a nice property in the countryside and prepare to enjoy it!
4. Keep a low profile during the first 6 months. Do not buy expensive cars or draw attention to yourself by flashing wads of cash about. The idea is to let the fuss and attention die down. Six months is usually enough.
5. Don't use your current credit cards. Get a debit card or an anonymous ATM Debit card. And use an anonymous browser like Anonymouse for your computer so that you can't be traced when you check your bank accounts or make plane bookings.
6. Have all mail - your bank statements, bills and correspondence, everything - sent to a private box which you rent under your blind trust name. Visit the box to collect your mail only at night after business hours.
