Fear of crime main reason Brits would keep a multimillion prize win secret

As the government prepares to release thousands of prisoners early, a new survey has revealed that the fear of crime is already so high among the general public it would deter most from openly celebrating a multimillion-pound prize.

A survey of 2,000 people carried out by OnePoll for luxury home prize draw company Raffle House found the risk of being targeted by criminals was the biggest reason people would not go public with a big win.

And that’s before the government’s proposal to release prisoners who’ve served as little as a third of their sentence has even come into force, a plan that senior police and security officials have warned poses risks to the public.

The survey, carried out in late May, revealed that just 2% of people would be willing to publicly announce they had won a multimillion-pound prize such as the homes offered by Raffle House, which is currently giving away a luxury Cotswolds home worth £2.8m.

More than half of those surveyed (56%) said they would keep their win entirely secret, while 40% would tell just a trusted few. A further 2% were unsure how they’d handle the news.

Those who said they wouldn’t announce their win publicly were asked to select all the reasons they’d keep schtum, and the answers revealed crime to be the biggest factor.

A fearful public…

Almost two-thirds (65%) of those surveyed were concerned about the risk of being targeted by criminals, only slightly higher than the 59% who were worried about being targeted specifically by scammers.

With recent international headlines including the trial of Kim Kardashian’s 2016 kidnappers, along with a spate of fresh kidnappings of cryptocurrency owners in Europe and the US, it’s perhaps unsurprising that more than one-third (35%) were worried about themselves or their family being kidnapped for ransom.

Slightly more unexpected was the finding that 15% of those surveyed were concerned they’d be blackmailed over something they’d done in the past if their win was made public.

“We frequently find our winners are reluctant to be identified and we wanted to understand the reasons people were so publicity-shy,” said James Mieville, Executive Director of Raffle House. “We expected people to say they were worried about being asked for handouts, but we were alarmed at the extent to which fears about crime would lead people to keep their good fortune to themselves.

“We were also surprised at the role social media was playing in people planning to keep any wins quiet – when we asked who respondents would most want to keep a win secret from, an overwhelming 60% chose social media. This next highest category was work colleagues, at a much lower 10%.”

Such caution over social media may be warranted given it has been linked to the burglaries of high-profile celebrity residences. Home security experts have suggested the luxury homes of celebs such as footballer Jack Grealish and former Made in Chelsea star Jamie Laing may have been targeted after burglars scoured social media for details of the celebs’ whereabouts and the contents of their properties.

Only 6% of the survey respondents said they would most want to keep their win from their friends, 5% from their family and 2% from their partner.

…but with big hearts

Although the vast majority would keep any big wins out of the public eye, most still planned to be generous with any unexpected wealth. Almost four in five (79%) said they would share their prize with their family, 60% with their partner, 38% with friends and 36% with charities. Just 5% said they wouldn’t share their win with anyone.

“It is heartening to see how generous Brits plan to be if they are lucky enough to win a life-changing prize. As an organisation that supports a wide range of charities, we were especially happy to note that more than one-third of people said they would share their winnings with charities,” added Mieville.