Sunday, January 22, 2012

Sweepstakes Giveaways and Contests

By Tom C Schmit


Sweepstakes are highly regulated generally in most countries. In the United States, many states have their own rules for sweepstakes, plus a national sweepstakes must comply with each state's laws. In Canada as well as other countries, Sweepstakes must be a minimum of nominally a game of skill, to avoid being seen as gambling. Canadian sweepstakes will most likely require entrants to solve a mathematical puzzle to enter.

On-line contests are put up by a lot of different types of organizations, from mom and pop businesses to multi-national corporations. Many of these sites are on dedicated servers that are professionally managed while others take prescription free-site systems where thousands of sites are saved to the same server.

Most sweepstakes could be entered by mailing a postcard along with your name and address towards the specified location. Some contests require you to hand print your postcard. This is designed to stop automated entries. Other sweepstakes do not care and you can easily enter through various automated means. Other contests allow entry vie the website, which can be even more convenient.

There are many world wide contests that have a myriad of prizes which may be won at some point. The cash sweepstake is a money lottery which could take place in an audience show or a television contest. There are lots of shops, restaurants, fast foods and several department stores that use a cash sweepstake as a possible evolvement for business. If someone is dining in a single of these specific restaurants or fast foods, that certain individual may be put on a list in order to be drawn lots. The Internet is full of different cash sweepstakes, so anyone can make money online just by simply entering the web sites which have the prizes promotions.

Every single day, thousands of Americans receive sweepstakes offers, but not all of them are legitimate. How can you tell the main difference between a real sweepstakes plus a scam? Legitimate sweepstakes are fun and free. They specify that no purchase is required to win and buying a product is not going to increase your chances of winning--you never have to pay to gather a prize. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), and the Postal Service's Office of Consumer Advocate are sponsoring this consumer-awareness campaign to point out the characteristics of fraudulent promotions and help limit the number of victims of these scams.

Remember, there is no need to pay to enter a sweepstakes or collect a prize. In case you are asked to pay, the sweepstakes is really a scam. Postal Inspectors suggest i hear you ask yourself these questions to prevent being scammed:

Does the promoter request your credit card number, checking account number, bank account information, or other personal account information? A legitimate prize company won't require this to declare that you simply winner.

Do they ask you to wire money or make a payment in an urgent manner? Do you experience feeling pressure to make a payment inside a given time deadline to collect your prize? Take a step back and evaluate the offer. Make contact with a Postal Inspector to verify that you are dealing with a legitimate sweepstakes offer.

Does the advertising copy clearly suggest that no purchase is necessary to win along with a purchase will not increase your odds of winning? You never have to pay to try out or to collect your prize when the sweepstakes is legitimate.




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