Is my Ad Blocker DQ'ing my entries?

avtechdave

avtechdave

Active member
Sweepstakes Plus Subscriber
I have been a long time user of both AdBlockPlus and Disconnect. I recently noticed that the Travel Channel sweepstakes began asking me to turn off my ad blockers. Could they (the Chrome extensions listed above) be the reason for my long, dry spell with no wins? As an experiment, I'm leaving them both turned off while I enter sweeps, beginning Oct. 5th 2017. Let's see if anything changes in my WIN column... I wonder?
 
Update: I now realize why I started using ad blockers in the first place: autoplay ads have become the scourge of the internet! Open a dozen tabs, and about 4 to 6 of them include ads that start playing whether I want them to or not. My temporary solution is to do this with my laptop muted. The adventure continues.
 
avtechdave - heh, it's muted or else I could NOT do this!

Akin to using a form filler, using AdBlock [or similar] by law, and by their own rules, unless they state using a popup/ad blocker would DQ you, it has *nothing* to do with your entry, and should have no impact.

Does that mean smaller co's/BLOGS will obey? No way to know.
 
Amy, I'm positive that most web sites track your IP address and will DQ multiple emails from the same IP.

I have also hit "save all entered data" on LastPass, and seen a form that looks like this: (the blank fields don't even show up on the form!)

Name: avtechdave
name2:
other name:
email: [email protected]
other email:
Fake email:
my email:
your email:

I'm also positive that auto-filling the blank fields will DQ that entry! I'm trying to follow the rules, AND maximize my chances. Anything that will reduce automatic DQ is worth trying. :) That said, every site I enter has their form filled in by hand, saved, and my "autofill" info is kept blank so all of the hidden "test" fields are left blank. ;)
 
I'm lazy so I always use robo/drop downs & type in rest 1st & save & THEN look at what was saved to see if other than visible/fields I filled show.

If yes, I either delete the "extra" fields or start over & do like you say.

I rarely have to do step 2 or 3 but know there is always the chance of phantom fields!

avtechdave said:
Amy, I'm positive that most web sites track your IP address and will DQ multiple emails from the same IP.

I have also hit "save all entered data" on LastPass, and seen a form that looks like this: (the blank fields don't even show up on the form!)

Name: avtechdave
name2:
other name:
email: [email protected]
other email:
Fake email:
my email:
your email:

I'm also positive that auto-filling the blank fields will DQ that entry! I'm trying to follow the rules, AND maximize my chances. Anything that will reduce automatic DQ is worth trying. :) That said, every site I enter has their form filled in by hand, saved, and my "autofill" info is kept blank so all of the hidden "test" fields are left blank. ;)
Click to expand...
 
avtechdave said:
Amy, I'm positive that most web sites track your IP address and will DQ multiple emails from the same IP.

I have also hit "save all entered data" on LastPass, and seen a form that looks like this: (the blank fields don't even show up on the form!)

Name: avtechdave
name2:
other name:
email: [email protected]
other email:
Fake email:
my email:
your email:

I'm also positive that auto-filling the blank fields will DQ that entry! I'm trying to follow the rules, AND maximize my chances. Anything that will reduce automatic DQ is worth trying. :) That said, every site I enter has their form filled in by hand, saved, and my "autofill" info is kept blank so all of the hidden "test" fields are left blank. ;)
Click to expand...

Avtechdave, would you mind sharing the sweeps you found this on? How common is this?
Thanks
 
I'll check a few sites while entering today, and try to share a screen-cap of these "phantom fields".
 
This site: Win a Trip to Orlando | Orlando Family Vacation Contest shown in the attachment includes hidden fields for "caState" and "other_email_check" as shown in the second attachment. My assumption is that these fields, if autofilled, will DQ your entry; and the only reason they exist is to "trick" autofill programs into filling them!
 

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avtechdave said:
This site: Win a Trip to Orlando | Orlando Family Vacation Contest shown in the attachment includes hidden fields for "caState" and "other_email_check" as shown in the second attachment. My assumption is that these fields, if autofilled, will DQ your entry; and the only reason they exist is to "trick" autofill programs into filling them!
Click to expand...

Thanks! I have been entering from that site seems like forever and had a roboform passcard for it. I filled out the form manually and saved as another passcard. The only field that was in the original that didn't show on the second was the language field. Seems the 'ca state' gets filled if Canada is selected for country. The fields for Q, Q1, and Other Email are questionable and possibly a way to try to detect form fillers but Roboform did not enter anything in them when I saved the form.

q:txt :
q[1]:txt :
firstname | | firstname:txt :
lastname | | lastname:txt :
phone | | phone:txt :
email | | email:txt :
address | | address:txt :
address2 | | address2:txt :
city | | city:txt :
fulcountry | | Country:sel :
state | | state:sel :
castate:sel : Select Province/Territory
postal | | postal:txt :
traveldate | | TravelDate:txt :
specialoffers | | specialoffers:chk :
planningkit | | planningkit:chk :
other_email_check | | other_email_check:txt :
 
curmudgeon said:
avtechdave,

I think you should read this article. I believe I first heard of it from Kim Komando:

LastPass isn't a Browser, it's just an autofill program, but, per the article, it can be hacked also.

https://www.theguardian.com/technol...l-details-in-new-phising-attack-chrome-safari

Google - - - - - - "browser autofill hacks" - - - for more articles.
Click to expand...

LastPass has plenty of fields for credit card info, identity, etc. Those are all blank in my copy. :) I only use it for manually saved sweepstakes forms and to generate passwords.
 
Dave, the article is about Browser Autofill Hacks (Chrome, Safari & Opera). I mentioned LastPass only because it's included, and not mentioned until later in the body of the article. You mentioned Chrome in your first post, so I assumed that's the Browser that you're using. It's possible therefor that you have a double exposure (chrome & LastPass) to the hacks mentioned in the article.

I thought that there might be a connection between the hidden fields you're experiencing and the subject of the article.

To shed some light on your question about sweeps tracking by IP address, the owner of another site has posted that sweeps do in fact have programs that'll tract by IP address to catch cheating, and his recommendation is one entry per household to avid being DQ'd. This assertion is provable through 24 hr sweeps, where your spouse can't enter after you do, or one entry per household sweeps.

Some might say that cookies could be used for this purpose, but cookies can be deleted, after which the sweep would loose the ability to track.

I'm not suggesting that all sweeps track, but I'm certain that some do, and I doubt its related to the hidden fields.

When you connect to a web site your IP address can be captured and saved, and the hidden fields aren't necessary to do this. Any incoming web connections could then be compared to the "saved" IP list and an additional sweep entry denied. Scrips (HGTV) does this, 'cept they use your email address. They probably have a program that looks at IP address and email address to allow or deny additional entries from the same IP address.

The only way that I can think of that you could avoid this is to use a a Virtual Private Network . I'm not sure how a VPN works, but I think it substitutes it's own IP address for yours. It can also use encryption and dedicated connections to hide your identity.
 
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