Sunday, August 31, 2008

Secret Number 3: Get a New E-mail Address

Don't use your real e-mail address for sweepstakes. Get a new yahoo.com or Gmail.com address and use it just for your sweepstakes entries.

Always put honest information on sweepstakes forms. Don't change you phone number, age, or address hoping you will be a winner. When they call you won't be home at that phone number. Also many sweepstakes send an affidavit for you to sign and notarize once you win to make sure you are who you say you are and that you qualify for the win. If the prize is over $600 they will need your social security number to send you tax forms on your win too!

Check your sweepstakes email often. You don't want to miss a win. Sometimes you have to respond in a few days to the companies email. You may also want to check the junk folder of your sweepstakes email. Some wins do turn up in there. Be smart, don't think those emails from Nigeria are real wins, though! If you are not sure if an e-mail is legit, check out the contest on OLS or ask about it in the forums there. You will get your answer soon enough.

The fun thing about sweepstakes is that sometimes you are informed that you are a winner: by phone, e-mail, or Fed-ex. At other times prizes just show up without any announcement. Strangely enough some prizes show up and their is no identification as to where the prize came from. Sometimes you can figure it out, sometimes you just have no idea. Just yesterday I got a package with 4 DVD's, a gift certificate, and a t-shirt. There was no note as to which company ran the contest!

No comments: