A common concern we hear of in the prize competitions sector is the fear of putting your hard-earned money in a competition, or submitting your information in a form, and then not being sure whether it is genuine.
Let’s face it, this is all about trust and we all know there are many companies out there that are based offshore that won’t hesitate to get your contact details (or even worse, your money) and then sell the information onto a third party… And before you know it, you’re getting phone calls to try to sell you insurance for a car you didn’t even win!
Most of us are quite able to spot an obvious scam a mile off, but sometimes even the best of us get caught out. Obviously the email out of nowhere telling you that you have just won the lottery even though you didn’t participate is pretty obvious (although even that catches a few out…). But sometimes it’s not that clear, which is why it pays to look out for some obvious tell-tale signs.
One thing is for sure, beware of so-called “free competitions”, either where you register for free or you get a free scratch card in a magazine. In most cases, your odds will either be very low or you will end up having to pay somehow, either by calling an expensive line for a minimum of 5 minutes (you always win on these scratch cards!) or by having someone sell your information onwards to a third party (and then having to explain to a salesperson that you don’t want car insurance…).
One thing is for sure, if you didn’t enter a competition, it’s very likely you didn’t win it either! If you get a letter through the door saying you have won millions but you don’t remember entering the competition beware - why would you be winning such a large prize if you didn’t have to enter or don’t even know who the promoter is? There is usually a catch. This is becoming more and more common on the internet, as I mentioned before.
Watch out for competitions that ask you to pay something in order to receive the prize. I mentioned those that require you to call a premium line, but the same goes for those that ask for you bank details or a certain amount of money even though you’re supposed to have won. In most countries, a good rule of thumb to follow is that you should not have to pay more than the cost of a stamp to receive your prize. Otherwise, you wouldn’t really have won would you, you would be buying the prize for whatever money they ask of you. Don’t confuse this with prize competitions where you pay upfront, say to purchase a ticket to play. In this case you’re paying at the outset of the competition so it’s a bit different.
In the UK, The Advertising Standards Authority monitor promotions that are sent through the post. However as I mentioned before, it’s more difficult to control with offshore companies. We have heard of recent scams coming from Japan, Spain, The Netherlands and Canada. When in doubt, simply ignore it, or where obvious, report a scam directly on www.asa.org.uk . You can find the equivalent authority in most countries, so it pays to do your research.
I mentioned scratch cards earlier, don’t get me wrong, you can win on a scratch card and I know many players who have. Just make sure you always read the terms and conditions that need to be made clear to you at the time of entry. Watch out for the premium telephone numbers where you need to spend a minimum amount of time, this can quickly add up if it costs over £1.5/minute!
What usually ends up happening with these is that you need to listen for long enough so that you get the prize code to obtain whatever you have won, unfortunately you can often fill in the card and never hear back even after the competition is supposed to have closed. I have also heard of people being told they won a holiday, spent the money on their telephone bill to claim the prize code, and then only to receive vouchers that they can only claim against very cheap holidays for a very limited amount of time in the year. Basically in this case, you’ll find it very hard to actually use the prize!
As I mentioned, the key is to read the small print on the back of scratch cards very carefully. If it is a genuine UK company for example, you will often be able to find a sentence indicating that there is an alternative to calling the premium number: you can obtain the claim numbers by post instead. Always do this rather than calling the line, however it’s hard to keep track and in many cases you never hear back.
If this option isn’t available, think long and hard before calling. If the prize you seem to have won on the scratch card is sure to be worth more than the 5 minutes you need to spend on the premium line, then it could be worth it. Otherwise, it’s probably best to trust you instinct and move onto the next competition.
Finally, bear in mind that in the UK there has been a bit of a scandal revolving around the TV phone-ins where some of the competitions had already closed by the time people were participating, or you simply had no chance of winning as they had already selected a winner. As of 1 September 2007 this will be much harder to do in the UK, as the Gambling Commission is expected to crack down on the companies that run these games.
Just bear in mind that on the TV it is likely that a lot of people will be participating, that if the game seems too simple there is usually a catch. Also bear in mind that a lot of the time, to win the big money they then ask you to give your birthday and they randomly select a birth date from a calendar, so actually you are not likely to win the big prizes most of the time.
Overall, just make sure you use your common sense and judgement, stay on your guards and always read the fine print! Good luck to all of you.
