Blog

This question comes up a lot when you enter sweepstakes.  If you are a winner, the sponsor will contact you.  Most sweepstakes are either run directly by the sponsor, or by a prizing agency.  Sometimes they will email you ahead of time to let you know that you won.  Other times they will telephone or send a letter in the mail.  The best letters are the ones that contain affadavits.  Affadavits, aka “affies” usually indicate that you won a more expensive prize.  If you receive an affadavit, follow the instructions and return it as quickly as possible.  You could lose out on a prize if you fail to return the paperwork.  Prizes can also be surprises, showing up on your doorstep with no advance notice.

What can be tricky are win notices that are not really wins.  They are usually fairly easy to detect “Nigerian Prince Says You're a Big Winner!”, but the good ones are more subtle.  If you aren't sure whether or not a win notice is real, read it carefully.  Who sent the notice?  If it is from a contest you did not enter, then you did not win.  Is the notice addressed to you by name, or are you “lucky winner”?  Is the URL from the sponsor or prizing agency, or is it an overseas yahoo account?  All these signs should send up red flags.  With any sweepstakes, never, never, never send money to claim a prize.  If you're a winner, you shouldn't be paying to release your prize.  Also, never, never, never provided bank account information or social security numbers.  If someone wants this information, they are probably a scammer.  There are plenty of great, legitimate sweepstakes, but be smart and avoid the occasional bad apples.