Treasure Absent Whether a Sweepstakes Is Valid
There's annihilation comparable the delectation and excitement of winning a contest or sweepstakes. Unfortunately, not all sweepstakes are held with forthright intentions. As a consummation of entering an unscrupulous sweepstakes, you may grow into bombarded with spam e-mails, letters and unwanted bell calls from third-party vendors. Furthermore, there's no scarcity of fraud occurrences where sweepstakes are concerned. On the other hand, there are precautions you can return to insulate yourself from would-be scam artists.
Instructions
Finding Out If a Sweepstakes Is Legitimate
1. To avoid fraud, be sure to contact the actual company to determine whether it is hosting a sweepstakes immediately. Other sources at your disposal to check the legitimacy of a sweepstakes include contacting your state or local fraud protection agency, or the Better Business Bureau. Every valid sweepstakes Testament display your odds of winning, equivalent of prizes and jewel gone who the winner is. Probation for these three elements before filling gone the sweepstakes formation.
2. Scrutinize the details of the sweepstakes. Gaze for authorized rules and contact material for the business or characteristic sponsoring the sweepstakes. In some cases, a smaller society may not advise rules for its sweepstakes, however normally abridgement of legally binding rules and regulations are a surefire way to tell a sweepstakes may not be legit.
3. Read the privacy policy. A legitimate sweepstakes should tell you exactly what it intends to do with your private information. The privacy policy is usually located at the bottom of your entry, just below the official rules of the sweepstakes, or on the company's website.
Legitimate sweepstakes will not sell your information to third-party solicitors, and it should clearly state that your information will be used for the sole purpose of entering you into the sweepstakes. In certain cases, the sponsoring company may use your information to send you newsletters and other advertisements. If this is the case, you should be able to read about that in a clearly stated privacy policy.
4. Guard your cash and credit card information. It's illegal for a sweepstakes to require you to purchase anything as a condition of entry. In most instances, a "no purchase necessary" phrase should clearly be indicated on the company's website or entry form. You should never be asked to supply any credit or debit card information as a condition of entry in a sweepstakes. Avoid paying shipping and handling charges. This may be another indication that something isn't right.
5. Contact a company directly. There are a multitude of imposters who may use sweepstakes offerings that are similar to other more popular sweepstakes. Proof the source of the sweepstakes. Most valid sweepstakes set off from reputable companies such as Wal-Mart, ESPN, Tylenol and Habitual Mills, to agnomen a infrequent. On the contrary, there are cases when blog owners and meager companies may practice sweepstakes to cumulation traffic on their websites. These may be 100% valid sweepstakes opportunities, nevertheless you should definitely avoid sweepstakes that you quality unsure of.
