How Sweepstakes Scams Work

Sweepstakes is a type of consumer sales promotion in which purchasers of a particular product are given an opportunity of winning attractive prizes; winners are chosen purely by chance. People use contests and sweepstakes to defraud people. In order to recognize the signs of a sweepstakes scam, it's helpful to know the most common goals of scammers. Tell you some of the most common aims of contest and sweepstakes scams.

One of the common goals of sweepstakes scams is outright theft. Generally, the scam artists try to convince you to send those cash under false pretenses. Modus Operandi is another usual way. The way this sweepstakes scam works is that you are informed that you won their sweepstake or contest, and that all you has to do to receive your prize is to wire them money to cover taxes.

Legitimate sweepstakes do not need any form of payment identification. They do not place strings on their prizes. You won't have to pay taxes to anyone but the IRS. Some sweepstakes sponsors require social security numbers, however; this is a legitimate question to ask before releasing a prize.