Newspaper Mistakenly Publishes Lottery Winner's Social Security Number, Address

[matcom]

<snip>

Maine's Morning Sentinel newspaper appears to have revealed a lottery winner's address and social security number in a published photo.

In a story that ran in the February 27 edition of the Sentinel, Newport resident Venison Turner Jr. was pictured together with his son, holding a copy of a winning ticket worth $300,000 and the paperwork filed with the Maine Lottery. The man's personal information is clearly visible.

In the Sunday, March 11 edition of the Sentinel, a letter from reader John Ferry was published, scolding the paper for missing the glaring mistake.

"What has he won? Because of the lack of editing he has won a lifetime of grief," Ferry wrote. "Within seconds of glancing at this picture, I noticed the form in the picture includes the man's name, address, telephone number, date of birth and even his Social Security number."

Photographs of smiling lottery winners holding giant mock checks made of cardboard are commonplace after a big win. The photos normally display the winner's name and prize amount, both of which are required to be disclosed anyway, so they are not considered private.

But disclosing a winner's address and other personal details can magnify the already difficult task of maintaining a degree of privacy that winners face, and may even be dangerous.

Criminals looking for easy targets have targeted lottery winners in the past. Because lottery winners often come from humble beginnings, they typically do not have the security resources or experience to protect their new wealth — a fact that thieves use to their advantage.

http://www.lotterypost.com/news/152791.htm

[tk2kewl]

1. BRILLIANT!

[ThomCat]

2. Damn! I hope someone at that paper is going to get

some serious grief over that.

And I wish Mr. Turner luck in protecting himself. :(

[skygazer]

3. Venison?

I couldn't get past the part where they said his name is Venison. What's his kid's name - Veal?

[Gormy Cuss]

7. Remember, he's Venison Jr.

His son is probably Venison III. And Junior isn't a native so the odd first name isn't a Maine thing, thank the stars.

[underpants]

4. It's Maine for crying out loud-it could only be one of about 12 people anyway

I mean COME ON!

[Gormy Cuss]

5. ~

:spank:

Actually, his name probably is enough to narrow it done to one person, or two if his father is still living.

[meegbear]

6. But us commies from Taxachusetts need it to fund lesbian abortions ...

and could have funded like 5 of them.

[Karenina]

9. Hello, Directory Assistance...

[grace0418]

8. I hope the paper pays to have all of his information changed and

for years of credit monitoring.

[mtnester]

10. The enormity of changing your SS number is so daunting

It could drive you nearly to suicide.

We had to do it after our identity was stolen for the second time....it took long hours, enough paperwork and grief to string to the moon and back, a lawyer, and money to do. Not only does it affect you, but your children, your parents, your employer, your creditors, your pension, the IRS, the state of Ohio...and dozens of many not thought of places that you discover by accident and go "oh crap why did I forget THEM?"

I would almost have rather continued to deal with identity theft, it was that bad.

[grace0418]

12. True. The paper should not only pay for it, but hire someone to file all the information

with everyone who needs to get it.

[mainegreen]

11. Ah yes, that paper would be the one owned by the right wing retards.

God how I fucking despise that paper. Just last year they published an article stating atheists are evil and can't be trusted. They can never get the facts right and do a rotten reporting job in general. They also tend to mistreat their employees.
Bastards.