Can Powerball $2.04 Billion winner stay anonymous to claim their jackpot prize?

A Jamaican lottery winner wears a Scream movie mask inspired by an Edvard Munch painting to hide their identity Photo: Jamaican Lottery

This month’s record $2 Billion Powerball winner cannot remain anonymous according to California state law.

The state is one of 43 in the United States that requires lottery winners to reveal their identity when they collect their jackpot prize from the California Lottery.

The seven US states where lottery winners are able to keep their identity anonymous Graphic: Silver Lotto

There are only seven US states where residents can remain anonymous: Delaware (DE), Kansas (KS), Maryland (MD), North Dakota (ND), Ohio (OH), South Carolina (SC) and Texas (TX).

All California Lottery winners need to fill out a claim form to get their prize money VIDEO: California Lottery/YouTube

One of the main reasons the lotteries are required to provide identification of the winners is for transparency.

It shows winners are real people and builds public trust in the lottery and draw process.

A CBS reporter outside Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, CA, where the winning billion-dollar Powerball ticket was sold in November Photo: CBS News

Are you the billion-dollar Powerball winner? Here's what you should have done after you won the lottery prize and before you collect the check:

1. Sign your ticket immediately with your name and address.

2. Take a closeup photo of both sides of the ticket.

3. Put the winning ticket in a sealed plastic bag for protection.

4. Keep the ticket on you until you can put it in a bank safe. Some winners tape the ticket to their bodies.

5. Tell no one, even your family. The fewer people who know, the better.

Chris Wujek took the $785,000 cash option from his $1-million Mega Multiplier and had some advice for lotto winners Photo: CT Lottery

Another winner, Christopher Wujek, who scratched a $1 million jackpot in 2021, had some advice for winners.

The Windsor, Connecticut resident advised: “Disappear off the planet.”

And he added, “it’s important people resist the urge to shout their win from the rooftops.”

“Get a lawyer you know, get some advice from someone you trust and get someone who can help you navigate the tax hurdles that Uncle Sam throws your way,” Chris said.

In China winners can stay anonymous, and many do this by dressing in costume to conceal their identity. Photo: Supplied

10 highest Powerball jackpots of all time:

1. $2.04 billion: Nov. 7, 2022

2. $1.586 billion: Jan. 13, 2016 – CA, FL, TN

3. $768.4 million: March 27, 2019 – WI

4. $758.7 million: Aug. 23, 2017 – MA

5. $731.1 million: Jan. 20, 2021 – MD

6. $699.8 million: Oct. 4, 2021 – CA

7. $687.8 million: Oct. 27, 2018 – IA, NY

8. $632.6 million: Jan. 5, 2022 – CA, WI

9. $590.5 million: May 18, 2013 – FL

10. $587.5 million: Nov. 28, 2012 – AZ, MO

Should lottery winners be able to claim their prize anonymously? Powerball winner Timothy Schultz tells why he thinks they should do it this way VIDEO: Timothy Schultz/YouTube

Featured