With new sweeps to enter and new sweepers unsure of giving out their SSN#, this issue is being raised again:
Tobacco sponsored sweeps - you have to essentially swear out an affidavit that you use tobacco when you supply your SSN to enter ANY tobacco sweeps.
Tobacco sweeps sponsors are required by LAW to verify our SSN#.
When we supply our SSN# we are essentially swearing out an affidavit that
1} we are really who we say we are,
2} that we are old enough to use tobacco,
3} that we actually use tobacco.
I know plenty of sweepers who wouldn't *ever* think to lie/cheat to enter a sweeps, yet they still discount the possibility that they could get in trouble after swearing they use tobacco when they really don't.
What you decide to do is your decision, but SA does not encourage nor condone its members to knowingly break the rules. Because of the war on tobacco, to protect the children, you have to swear to be a user to enter. Not just mark a checkbox, you have to give them your SSN.
With the advent of OBAMACARE, and health records {most likely} going online, it *might* pose a problem in the future if you tell your insurance company you don't use, then basically swear out an affidavit that you do use to enter.
With the advent of ObamaCare {the Affordable Care Act} and the synergy {for the gov't, mostly} of all of our records online, if you tell your health insurance company you are a non-smoker & they haven't looked at FinCEN yet, I'm sure they will! *FinCEN (the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the United States Department of the Treasury) deals with fraud.
an SA'er {barry908 } who said he was in insurance posted awhile back in the comments, he noted:
As a former AVP of a insurance company I have seen where upon receipt of a large claim (ex. lung cancer) investigation finds applicant made misrepresentations. Perhaps a google search would find a winners list in this contest?? Not sure it makes sense to pay for insurance, only to undermine a possible claim in the future buy entering a tobacco company sweepstake hoping for a small win.
AND:
The party offering a sweepstakes may have to file a winners list in each state they offer a contest/prize/sweepstake in. This documentation my vary by state but could include proof of payout in the form of list of winners. One may want to research the terms - Rescind and Policy Rescission prior to entering a tobacco contest.
I've observed over the years that people who would *never* think to lie about owning a business, their age/sex/location/etc., just to enter a sweeps, somehow feel righteous about tobacco sweeps. I think it's because with the war on tobacco, people feel it's their due or something. btw - that war {for the children!} is why they require you to verify your ssn etc.
While I have my own way of choosing what I enter, I abide by the rules. Sometimes, the rules will allow entry, but the form will require info I'd have to lie to enter, so I drop those. How others choose to enter is on them, I just point out the rules - especially when I see a general acceptance that not complying is somehow OK because it's from an eeevil {read: demonized} company or product.
Tobacco sponsored sweeps - you have to essentially swear out an affidavit that you use tobacco when you supply your SSN to enter ANY tobacco sweeps.
Tobacco sweeps sponsors are required by LAW to verify our SSN#.
When we supply our SSN# we are essentially swearing out an affidavit that
1} we are really who we say we are,
2} that we are old enough to use tobacco,
3} that we actually use tobacco.
I know plenty of sweepers who wouldn't *ever* think to lie/cheat to enter a sweeps, yet they still discount the possibility that they could get in trouble after swearing they use tobacco when they really don't.
What you decide to do is your decision, but SA does not encourage nor condone its members to knowingly break the rules. Because of the war on tobacco, to protect the children, you have to swear to be a user to enter. Not just mark a checkbox, you have to give them your SSN.
With the advent of OBAMACARE, and health records {most likely} going online, it *might* pose a problem in the future if you tell your insurance company you don't use, then basically swear out an affidavit that you do use to enter.
With the advent of ObamaCare {the Affordable Care Act} and the synergy {for the gov't, mostly} of all of our records online, if you tell your health insurance company you are a non-smoker & they haven't looked at FinCEN yet, I'm sure they will! *FinCEN (the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the United States Department of the Treasury) deals with fraud.
an SA'er {barry908 } who said he was in insurance posted awhile back in the comments, he noted:
As a former AVP of a insurance company I have seen where upon receipt of a large claim (ex. lung cancer) investigation finds applicant made misrepresentations. Perhaps a google search would find a winners list in this contest?? Not sure it makes sense to pay for insurance, only to undermine a possible claim in the future buy entering a tobacco company sweepstake hoping for a small win.
AND:
The party offering a sweepstakes may have to file a winners list in each state they offer a contest/prize/sweepstake in. This documentation my vary by state but could include proof of payout in the form of list of winners. One may want to research the terms - Rescind and Policy Rescission prior to entering a tobacco contest.
I've observed over the years that people who would *never* think to lie about owning a business, their age/sex/location/etc., just to enter a sweeps, somehow feel righteous about tobacco sweeps. I think it's because with the war on tobacco, people feel it's their due or something. btw - that war {for the children!} is why they require you to verify your ssn etc.
While I have my own way of choosing what I enter, I abide by the rules. Sometimes, the rules will allow entry, but the form will require info I'd have to lie to enter, so I drop those. How others choose to enter is on them, I just point out the rules - especially when I see a general acceptance that not complying is somehow OK because it's from an eeevil {read: demonized} company or product.
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