CT Lottery Now Keeping Winners 'Safe' From Phishing Hooks

ROCKY HILL, CT — The Connecticut Lottery has changed its policy on reporting big wins.

The names have been partially eliminated to protect the "innocent," CT Lottery officials implied this week.

The change was visible Wednesday on the chart that reports wins of $10,000 or more. The "winner list" is updated daily as the larger prize tickets are cashed in.

For years, the CT Lottery policy had been to show the full names of all those who cashed in tickets worth $10,000 or more as a matter of public record. It then went to winners having the option of applying for anonymity over the past couple of years. Wednesday morning's update had eliminated all first names and replaced them with just first names and last initials.

For example, the chart shows someone named "Howard B" of Enfield cashing in a winning ticket in the Electric 7s 2nd Edition scratch game worth $177,777 on April 4 after purchasing it at the Enfield Food Mart.

Another example is a player named "Wilma D," who won $10,000 on a 10X Cash 16th Edition scratch ticket bought at the Town & Country Spirit Shoppe in her hometown of Meriden.

Some opt-outs still simply said "winner" rather than the first name and last initial. Names can be obtained via Freedom of Information requests.

When asked by Patch to explain the change, CT Lottery officials issued the following statement:

"The Connecticut Lottery Corporation is committed to ensuring the public's trust and confidence through the responsible play and sale of its games. To this end, the CLC has taken the proactive step to further protect our players from potential scams by publishing only the first name and last initial of prize winners over $10,000 on our website.

"The CLC has been informed of potential scams targeting lottery players and winners. Anyone who suspects that they may have been contacted as part of a lottery-related scam should contact the CLC Security Department at (860) 713-2700 or visit ctlottery.org/bewareofscams for more information on potential scams and how best to protect yourself and loved ones."