Lottery winner wears winking emoji mask to conceal identity while collecting prize

Known only as N. Gray, the woman wore an eye-catching winking-face emoji mask as she collected the $180,900,000 prize won in the Supreme Ventures Super Lotto draw.

According to The Jamaica Star, she had used the disguise in response to rampant crime in the country.

Simone Clarke-Cooper, the lottery organiser’s assistant vice-president of group corporate communications, told the newspaper that previous winners have resorted to disguises to protect themselves.

“Unfortunately, Jamaica is not like other markets,” she said.

“In other markets, they don’t necessarily do it, but here I think they opt to do it to keep themselves safe.

“We are not going to tell them not to do that because their safety is of paramount importance to us as well.”

She added: “People have been coming with their own disguises.

“They usually don’t need our help, and they are usually very creative, perhaps beyond anything that we could think of or imagine, and it has been very effective over the years.”

Many on Twitter expressed their joy at the photos, which were retweeted and liked by thousands of users.

“This is genius,” one wrote, describing her as a “smart woman”.

“There’s no upside for the world knowing her business.”

A third added: “I love how the others are trying to keep a straight face!”

Ms Gray is reportedly planning to invest in a community centre after clearing her debts.

She told The Gleaner newspaper: “I am elated, because I was drowning in debt.

“I started buying Super Lotto in January… Now I’ve won, I want to clear my debt, invest, and I want to do some travelling.

“I would like to construct a community centre for the youths in my community, so they can engage in something productive – somewhere where they can do information technology.” – skynews.com