| Before You Respond to a Win Notification...How to Investigate Your Wins
Sweepstakes scammers are getting more and more sophisticated about disguising their fraudulent win notifications as legitimate wins. Oftentimes, however, scam artists use the same phony sweepstakes or sponsor names in thousands of letters and emails. By researching the names found in your win notifications, you have a good chance of separating the scams from the real thing.Does Your Win Fit the Warning Signs of a Scam?Many sweepstakes scammers use methods to trick victims into parting with their money that are never used in legitimate win notifications. Every time you receive a win, go over the Top Signs that Your Win is Really a Scam to ensure that you are not being defrauded. Use a Search Engine to Check Out the Sponsor & Sweepstakes NamesBy running the sponsor and sweepstakes name through a search engine, you can often discover whether a win notification is fake or legitimate. Real sweepstakes will show results including the original entry form, listings in sweepstakes directories, and discussions in contest forums. If your win notification is a scam, however, your results will be quite different. You might find no results at all, or you might see complaints and warnings from other people who received the scam. Check Consumer Fraud Reporting's WebsiteConsumerFraudReporting.org maintains useful tools to help you recognize a sweepstakes scam. Among these are a list of names and aliases commonly used by scam artists, examples of scam emails to compare with your own prize notification, and a list of legitimate lotteries. Ask in the Contests & Sweepstakes ForumIf you are still unsure, post a question in the forum. Other sweepers may have heard of the company and be able to reassure you that the win is legitimate or warn you away from a scam. Plus, your warning in the forum could help prevent another unsuspecting sweeper from becoming a victim of fraud. |
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