GREENSBORO, N.C. — 2 Wants To Know, if you win the Mega Millions, do you have to reveal your identity? It depends on where you bought the ticket.
From the info 2WTK looked at, a slew of states allow you to remain anonymous forever if you want to: Arizona, Delaware, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Ohio, South Carolina, and New Jersey.
There are other states that allow you to remain anonymous if you win over a certain amount: Virginia ($10 million), Georgia ($250,000), Minnesota (10,000), Texas ($1 million), and West Virginia ($1 million).
There are 45 states that participate in Mega Millions. The drawing on Friday, July 29, 2022, is $1.28 Billion.
If you buy the winning ticket in North Carolina, your identity will be revealed. Period. Why? It's the law.
Looking at the North Carolina statutes, when lawmakers set up the lottery, there was no provision to stay anonymous. Recently, state lawmakers voted to allow a prize winner of $50 million or more to keep the information confidential for 90 days after claiming the prize.
In NC, you have 180 days to claim a prize, so you could be anonymous for 270 days total, but eventually, you'd have to be known. The only way this would change is if lawmakers change the law.
Why is it like this? Why do you have to be known?
To be clear, you don't have to share your picture, but your name and city are made public.
An NC Education Lottery spokesman told me it's because the state wants you to know there really are winners and where the money is going.