So moral of the story is to never sign your ticket.

Looks like some lucky person was smart enough to do that.

"In 2016, the last winner of the Powerball followed that advice. The $487 million prize claimed through the Robin Egg 2016 Nominee Trust, which was created by Shaheen, and he serves as its trustee."

I think the moral is... do not talk/sign/call/anything, walk, no run, to a good lawyer well versed in the area of: "I've just won the lottery, please help."

A lot of people are cheated out of their winning each year by sales clerks that check the ticket, tell the buyer "nope, it's a loser", then pull the ticket out of the trash once the buyer has left.

Signing the back upon purchase is a strong defense against this fraud. So it's not as black-and-white as it seems.

I can only talk about Canada, but in both Ontario and western Canada they scan your ticket and an audible sound is made if you are a winner (or loser). For both winners and non-winners, a receipt prints out and the clerk gives you both.

Additionally there is a self scan kiosk where you can check your ticket. And there's always publicly listed winning numbers.

However, I will add that often a clerk won't scan your ticket if it's not signed. Therefore, if you want to check your numbers without signing the ticket, your options are self scan, their official app, online numbers, newspapers etc. Lots of options.

No idea how the system works, but if the clerk is able to disable the scanner and manually press a hidden button that plays the audio of the losing sound, seems like a pretty easy system to break.

And print out an official lotto receipt on their official paper.... come on.

Who stays for their losing receipt?

Probably not many people do, but the point was made in regards to the comment that "a lot of people are cheated out of their winnings". I made the comment to simply point out that may have been the case in the future, but most modern lottery corporations have made efforts to eliminate that.

Or if the clerk scans a losing ticket of their own, from their pocket.

You have anything to back that story up? Even an online article?

Most lottery systems around the world will buzz a "winner" or "not a winner" sound and some flashy lights when you bring the ticket to a clerk. Try it in Germany, England and USA (places where I played lotto and witnessed it firsthand)

Sure. Here's an example from just a month or two ago:

http://wfla.com/2017/12/12/gulfport-and-st-pete-store-clerks...

(and yes, a lot of systems now have self-service terminals that one can use to check your own ticket, and cashier terminals that make audio, but fraud will always find a way.)

Even an online article?

Were you looking for a paper copy? I don't have your mailing address.

Not exactly, it is advised by the lottery office to immediately sign your ticket. Otherwise it may create a lot of unnecessary troubles, like your ticket is lost, robbed, or some friend claims you had verbal agreement on splitting the rewards, etc.

On the extremely rare chance that you do win, avoiding the troubles of a newly minted public millionaire, not signing it seems like a good trade off.

Losing the ticket is NOT extremely rare chance at all. Avoiding troubles going public, versus losing all of the million dollars rewards, it's obvious what people would choose.

> So moral of the story is to never sign your ticket.

But doesn't this mean if someone can assault you and steal the ticket they can claim it themselves? Sounds like both have risks :/

I think you have bigger problems if you count being mugged between your couch and your cell phone to call a law firm as a risk.

Someone can assault you and steal your wallet. Does this prevent you from carrying a wallet?

Do you carry millions in cash around in your wallet?

I wouldn't walk around with a million dollar ticket in my pocket, nor tell people. You're really reaching here.

> She can't do that either.

But, why? Because she accidentally signed the ticket before realizing that it invalidated that option? She holds the winning ticket, just let her redact her signature from it legitimately and claim her winnings.

The question is whether the law establishing the lottery permits that, and if so what clear limits the court can put into place so that the agency operating the lottery doesn't have to contend with too many complex scenarios that could ultimately result. Money attracts litigation, especially when the rules aren't crystal clear.

It sucks for this woman, but technically she could always forgo the winnings altogether. Nobody is forcing her to take the money, or to keep it. She wants to have her cake and eat it too. What's she's asking is reasonable on its face, but there are larger considerations at play.

The legislature is still free to address this woman's concerns directly, as well as for future winners. Ideally that's what would really happen. Maybe she should pledge some donations to her friendly neighborhood representatives.

> The question is whether the law establishing the lottery permits that

But that’s shouldn’t be the question. The question should be whether that law is extremely dumb (obviously it is), and whether it threatens to place undeserved stress on an individual going through a major life event (it does).

There are good reasons for forcing winners to be publicly named. One of which is that it helps the integrity of the game - harder for the lottery organizer to just not pay out, or to cheat and pay it to their lackeys every time.

I understand, but that’s not the real story here, because her lottery allows anonymous trusts to accept winnings.

You would think the legislature would lend a kind ear to their next great donor.

If she forgoes the winnings she should at least get the ticket price refunded.