Top 10 Ways of Recognizing Sweepstakes Scams

Winning a large sweepstakes prize is a dream come true for many people. However, that dream can quickly turn into a nightmare if the win notification was actually a sweepstakes scam. By learning to recognize the top signs that a win is not legitimate, you can avoid becoming a victim of fraud.

1 ) You Need to Pay to Receive the Prize

Legitimate sweepstakes will never ask you to pay fees to participate or to receive a prize. You should never have to pay handling charges, service fees, or any other kind of charges up front to receive a win. Sweepstakes taxes are paid directly to the IRS along with your regular tax return, except for rare exceptions such as paying for port fees or hotel taxes. For more information, read the article, “Top Questions about Sweepstakes Taxes.”

2 ) You Don’t Recognize the Sweepstake

You can only win sweepstakes that you enter. This is another reason why it makes so much sense to organize your sweepstakes entries; when you receive a notification, you can easily check to make sure that you actually entered that sweep. To be absolutely sure, look up the telephone number for the sweepstake sponsor, and call and verify your winnings. Do not use a telephone number given in your win notification unless you can verify that it is legitimate from another source, such as a phone book.

3 ) You Receive a Large Check with your Notification

To fool people into thinking that a scam is legitimate, many con artists send counterfeit checks along with their phony win notifications. Cashing fraudulent checks is a crime, and you could be liable for fines and even closure of your bank account, as well as losing any money you wire.

4 ) You Are Asked to Wire Money

Criminals love to use services like Western Union to receive illicit funds, because it is nearly impossible to trace who received the money. Western Union transfers are handled like cash, and it is nearly impossible to get back any money that you send to con artists in this way. In the few cases where you have to pay money to a sponsor, you would not be required to use a wire service.

5 ) You Are Pressured to Act in a Hurry

Scammers have a very good reason for wanting you to act quickly: they want to ensure that they receive their money before their check bounces or you read an article such as this one and realize that you are being defrauded. If you feel like you are being pressured to make a decision before you have the time to ensure that the win is legitimate, you should be very suspicious. In some cases, a sponsor might need a quick answer (for example, if they are giving away tickets for a concert that weekend), but you should always have at least a few hours to investigate the notification.

6 ) You Need to Provide Bank or Credit Card Info to Receive Your Prize

Sponsors do not send wins by direct deposit, nor do they need to withdraw money from your bank or verify information using your credit card number. The only sensitive information that a legitimate sweepstakes sponsor needs to process your win is a social security number. Asking for a bank account or credit card number is a huge red flag, and you should never hand over this information.

7 ) The Win is From a Lottery

It is impossible to win a lottery without buying a ticket. Even if you have bought a lottery ticket recently, you would have to find the winning numbers in a newspaper or similar source of information and compare them to your ticket; the lottery organization would not contact you to tell you that you won.

8 ) The Win is From a Foreign Lottery

Not only do foreign lotteries have the same restriction as domestic lotteries, but it is also illegal to sell tickets for foreign lotteries across international borders. Therefore, unless you were actually in a foreign country and bought a lottery ticket, foreign lottery notifications cannot be legitimate wins.

9 ) The Notification is From a Government Organization

To appear more legitimate, some scams pretend to come from government organizations such as the FTC or the “National Sweepstakes Board” (which doesn’t actually exist). Real sweepstakes sponsors, however, send their win notifications directly to the winners. Government organizations are not involved in awarding sweepstakes prizes.

10 ) The Notification is Sent Via Bulk Mail

When a real sweepstakes sponsor sends out win notifications, they want to ensure that the information arrives at the winners’ doors in a reasonable amount of time. To make sure this happens, they use first class postage or services such as FedEx or UPS to deliver notifications. Read more about prize notification methods. Scam artists, on the other hand, want to target the most people for the least cost in order to keep their profits high. They send scam letters out by bulk mail to take advantage of the postage savings. For this reason, you should never trust a win notification that arrives by bulk mail.

Top 10 Tips to Improve Your Chances of Winning Sweepstakes

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to bring home tons of sweepstakes prizes, while others win nearly nothing? While many people attribute winning solely to luck, frequent winners use smart tactics to improve their odds. By creating a plan to enter sweepstakes intelligently, you can dramatically increase your chances to win. We’ll show you the top ten insider tips to improve your chances of winning sweepstakes prizes.

1 ) Focus Your Effort

If you look at any sweepstakes listing, you’ll see more contests running than you could possibly enter. It’s a good idea to focus your efforts on prizes that you really want to win. If you know you won’t be able to attend a concert across the country or you have no use for a hot tub in your efficiency apartment, don’t waste your time entering for those prizes. Instead, focus your energy on the giveaways with prizes you really want to win.

2 ) Enter as Many Sweepstakes as Possible

If you enter a single giveaway, you’ll have to have a lot of luck to get picked as the winner. But if you enter hundreds of different prize competitions every month, the likelihood of a win soars, so try to enter as many different sweepstakes as you can.

3 ) Enter as Often as Allowed

When daily, weekly, or monthly entry into a sweepstake is allowed, take the sponsor up on it! Since many people will enter only once or twice, the chances of your name being drawn as the winner if you enter regularly will be significantly higher.

4 ) Emphasize Sweepstakes with Lots of Prizes

Simply put, the more prizes a sweepstake offers, the better your chances to win. A giveaway that is awarding 100 prizes is going to be a hundred times easier to win than a giveaway with a single prize. Even if some of the prizes are smaller in value, you’ll feel encouraged when you receive the notification that you have won.

5 ) Look for Sweepstakes that Restrict Entries from Other States

States are allowed to have their own rules governing sweepstakes. Because of this, some sponsors will prohibit entry from residents of particular states. Florida, New York, and Rhode Island are commonly excluded from large sweepstakes. California and Utah are rarely included in sweepstakes sponsored by wineries or beer breweries. Hawaii and Alaska are often left out, because shipping to those states is more expensive. Entering sweepstakes where certain states are excluded means that the number of people who can enter is much lower. Less competition means higher chances for you.

6 ) Prioritize Sweeps that Restrict Ages/Gender

Some sponsors restrict entry by specific age ranges or genders. For example, most sweepstakes allow entry by people over 18 years of age, but some restrict entry to 21+, or even 25+. If you are above 25 years of age, these restrictions cut down your competition and increase your odds. Similarly, if only women are allowed to enter a contest, you’ll only see competition from about half of the population.

7 ) Search Out Local Sweeps

Some sweepstakes are only open to a restricted area, such as a single state or even a specific store location. Local sweepstakes are a treasure trove for contest hunters, since the number of entries is usually a mere fraction of the entries received by national sweeps. Enter every local sweepstake that you can find!

8 ) Avoid Aggressively Advertised Sweepstakes

If you see a sweepstake that is advertised in newspapers, on television, and on the radio, you can guess that the number of entries is going to be staggering, and your chances of winning low. Focus the greatest amount of energy on sweepstakes that do not advertise so aggressively.

9 ) Highlight Short Entry Periods

Some sweepstakes have entry periods of only a week or two, while others last a year or more. The longer a sweepstake is available, the more people will find and enter it. Since many people overlook sweepstakes that are only available for a limited time, your chances to win will grow.

10 ) The More Difficult the Entry, the Less Competition You’ll Have

Sometimes, a sweepstake might require you to jump through hoops by providing UPC codes, answering trivia questions, or requiring you to fill out a survey. While this might slow down your entry time, many other entrants will also get frustrated and give up, meaning your chances of winning will be higher. Skill contests, which require that entrants submit a piece of writing, a recipe, or something similar, have even fewer submissions.

Tips to Avoid Disqualification

When rules state “one entry per email address or household,” go with the conservative interpretation - send in only one entry per physical address. “One entry per person per email address” means enter with ONE of your addresses. Do not use multiples. Make sure you are eligible: Continental US is the lower 48 and Alaska; Contiguous US is the lower 48 only; just “US” is all 50 states. No automated entries means do not use any automated sweep service - ever! If the rules seem to contradict an item on another page, go with the rules. For further clarification, email the webmaster or another address onsite. Always read the rules before entering. Don’t try to cheat. Keep track of the sweeps you have entered.

Courtesy of About.com