“After being compelled to disclose her name as the $70M Powerball winner, she became a strong supporter of keeping lottery winners anonymous
– Cristy Davis won a $70 million Powerball jackpot in Michigan in 2020.
– She was forced to reveal her identity by state law, which only allows anonymity for local and in-state lottery games.
– She faced problems such as scams, frauds, and unwanted attention after her name was publicized.
– She found out that her identity was used without her consent on Facebook groups to solicit personal information from people.
– She received an email from the Lottery accusing her of scamming people, which she denied and blamed on the Lottery’s policy of exposing winners’ names.
– She is working to advocate for lottery winners to have the option to remain anonymous, especially for multi-state games such as Powerball and Mega Millions.
– She argues that anonymity protects not only the winners but also others who may fall victim to fraudsters using fake messages to exploit them.
– She believes that winning the lottery is life-changing enough without having to deal with the negative consequences of publicity.
– She did not move away from her long-time home, change her name or phone number, or alter her lifestyle after winning the lottery, which made her feel more vulnerable and unreal.
– She hopes that the law will change to allow lottery winners to choose whether they want to disclose their names or not.