Lottery winner claims $1 million prize wearing 'Scream' mask for a reason we can all get behind

Winning a lottery can be a life-changing event. While many would want to share their happiness with their loved ones, some choose otherwise. In a viral incident from 2019, a man who won the Super Lotto in the Carribean wore a costume from the movie "Scream" to pick up his check. The Jamaican man told local news station Loop News he wanted to hide his identity from everyone, including his family to prevent anyone from asking for a share of the prize.  

Who was behind the mask?

The name shared by the man was A. Campbell. The man in full costume, with every inch of his body covered, posed with his win at the Spanish Court Hotel in Kingston. Soon he went viral for his clever disguise.

Campbell’s total winnings amounted to 158,400,000 Jamaican dollars, which was about $1,171,424 at the time. He had purchased the Super Lotto ticket months ago for 200 Jamaican dollars or $1.49. Campbell was the 17th winner of the Super Lotto, which is run by Supreme Ventures. 

In the interview with Loop, Campbell shared he had struggled in his life and the winnings had the potential to change all that. While he didn't give a lot of details, he expressed that he wanted to buy a house with the money. "I want to get a house, I want to get a nice house. I haven't found it yet, but I'll be looking for one soon," he told Loop. 

As per the report, Campbell took 54 days to claim the prize and all this while, Supreme Ventures had been urging the winner to come forward as the prize had a  90-day deadline.

Explaining the situation, Campbell told Loop that he fell ill after realizing he owned the winning ticket. He said his head hurt for days after he realized he had the winning ticket. "I had a belly ache for two weeks, sometimes I feel so much pain I forget that I had won," he said.

It turns out that Campbell isn't the only lottery winner to maintain anonymity with a costume. Wearing costumes has been a common strategy for lottery winners, especially during publicized check presentation ceremonies.

In 2022, a lottery winner from Guangxi Zhuang province in China claimed his 220 million yuan prize (approximately $30.1 million at the time) in a cartoon costume to hide his identity from his family and friends, as per local news outlets.

At the time, ZHCW identified the man by his pseudonym Li, who wore a yellow cartoon character suit to pick up his winnings from Nanning City. The winner told the publication that he didn't want his family to become lazy or act "superior" to others after discovering the mega win.

Furthermore, Li had put in considerable work to make sure that he won big. He told reporters that he was so confident that he would win, that he had purchased 40 tickets with the same number combinations. Each ticket cost Li about 80 yuan (~$11 at the time) and they had a payout of 5.48 million yuan (~$75,00 at the time). Thus, Li's total winnings amounted to 220 million yuan (~$30.1 million at the time).

Like Campbell, Li also said that he felt uneasy after discovering that he had won and he didn't sleep that night.

This article originally appeared on 7.26.24.