How do I find out if a contest is legit?

Question

I recieved an email saying I won but I dont know if it is real. I have heard that there are some scams coming from teh UK and other countries.

Answer 1

The scams are not necessarily coming from the UK, they are simply pretending to be related to the UK lottery.

Basically, if you get an email telling you that you have won some money, you haven't. The only way to win money is if you buy a lottery ticket and check your numbers and win. No one out there randomly puts your email address into a prize draw and just gives you a bunch of money. What would be the point?

Answer 2

I've seen hundreds of emails (to me, and to other people) saying "You're a winner!" but exactly zero of them have been legit. So, going 'by the numbers', your odds are not good.

That being said, it's possible (if unlikely) that you are a winner. Consider the following scenario:
1. You entered a raffle contest, and you provided your email address. Note that most raffle contests that I've entered have always asked for my real address, because it is worth more to the company than just my email address.
2. Look for the prize mentioned in the email that you received. If it is real, it should match the prize for something that you entered *recently*. Note that most raffles and prizes are paid at most within a couple of months of the entry date.

If both of these hold up, then you can respond to them, but even so, I would still be careful. Don't give out any of your personal information - this is exactly what the fraudulant emails are after.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

Its a scam. Ignore it and delete it. And warn your friends about it.

Its easy to find out if you a cotest is legit or not.

If you haven't joined any contest and you receive a notice that you've won... Then from that scenario alone, you can tell that the contest is not legit.

Answer 4

I googled the info and found it on a site called spam hackers & phish, it was a scam there was more blogs about the spam and no legitamate site.