If lottery winners can be anonymous, how can you know if a lottery is fair? We asked the experts

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) – One ticket sold in Quincy, Illinois, is the big Powerball winner for $1.04 billion.

And one ticket is a $50,000 winner purchased at the Chestnut Market on Manchester Avenue in St. Louis.

But we may never know who won either prize.

Illinois and Missouri are among nine states that let lottery winners stay anonymous. Another ten states allow it for certain high prizes.

Anonymity is meant to protect winners from what some have described as a rush of scams, people asking for money and a loss of privacy.

“To prevent that possibility, to provide protection for these lottery winners,” explained Jonathan D. Cohen, lottery expert and author of “For a Dollar and a Dream: State Lotteries in Modern America.”

But scandals have happened from time to time.

The Texas Lottery Commission was dissolved after it allegedly helped a gambling syndicate rig a $95 million Lotto jackpot in 2023.

And Eddie Tipton, a former Multi-State Lottery employee, confessed to rigging lottery drawings in Kansas, Iowa, Colorado, Wisconsin and Oklahoma.

So if winners are anonymous, how can the public know that lotteries are fair?

“A lot of it frankly does have to be done on faith,” said Cohen.

Cohen says while the public may not know a winner’s name, state lotteries do, and they investigate a winner’s identity before handing over the money. He says that it can even include checking surveillance video from inside the store when the ticket was purchased.

“They are going to all sorts of investigative work to make sure the person is who they say they are, and are not people who are not allowed to buy lottery tickets, which includes people who work for the lottery,” said Cohen.

We put the question to the lotteries.

A Missouri Lottery spokesperson sent us a statement, reading, “Players must purchase Lottery tickets at a licensed Missouri Lottery retailer (approximately 4,700 statewide). I’m not able to provide specific details, but we do have measures in place to protect the integrity of our games and prevent bulk purchases.”

And the Illinois Lottery writes: “The Illinois Lottery is committed to operating with integrity and supporting practices that encourage the fair and responsible selling and playing of lottery games while reducing the risk of fraudulent behavior.

“We have a retail network of over 7,000 retailers who work in conjunction with the Lottery through our license agreement and related policies to help us uphold Illinois Lottery standards. Our policies include the regular monitoring of retailer sales activity to safeguard against potential fraudulent behavior and bulk purchase attempts.”

Bottom line?

“I think people absolutely can trust their state lottery, and lotteries in general. There have been a few scandals over the years, but the fact that we know about them is proof that the system can be trusted,” said Cohen.