Hey all
A question for those who regularly enter competitions through the competition section here:
Do you normally put your ‘real’ details? Eg real name, address, etc?
Do you use a burner email address or your primary email account? What about phone number - do you use a separate sim for all competitions?
Reason I ask is I’m always hesitant to enter competitions as im worried my details will just get harvested and then gets lots of spam calls/messages/emails.
Cheers!
Appreciate the response. Do you think using a fake name would have an impact if you actually won?
Yes, an SSD competition I won from WD required me printing and signing my name on a 'prize verification form' (the T&Cs of me winning and collecting the prize). Might also present issues with them sending out the package and what name you gave to them to put on the shipping label (and if you have to collect from a post office, how do you prove your fake identity?).
Yeh that makes sense. I wonder if you put a fake name to enter and then if you won you would obviously use your real name to collect the prize.
That’s what I often wonder. Say if you actually win and then you tell them your real name is different to what you used to enter - would they disqualify you from claiming the prize?
@Hamish125: Most comp T&Cs don't allow for a 'transference of prize' to other people, so I would think they'd redraw the prize if they found out you used a fake name.
Just a question on your sim - which one do you use and what’s the cost per year to keep a sim solely for competition purposes?
Whatever details you provide, assume they will be harvested, they will leak, they will be used for marketing and spam and possibly other malicious activities.
That was what always held me back - the very small chance of winning was outweighed by the very real chance of getting info harvested. That’s why I wondered whether using a dedicated alt email and number would help. Or whether if you used fake details and actually won, would they honour the prize?
The answer should be in the terms and conditions of each competition.
Real name and address, dedicated comp/spam email and only my real phone number if it says that they'll contact winners through phone. Otherwise all comps that'll announce winners through email I'll use a random phone number.
Real details, minor exception with my email where I make use of gmail's + and extra . feature to help identify which ones came from compeitions.
Have been regularly entering ozb comps for many years now, rarely get SMS spam, but tonnes of email spam. Enough so I do an annual clean up / unsubscribe.
Also encountered various comps which do required you to verify your ID. But these are generally limited to bigger wins or ones backed up larger corporations (e.g. Channel 7 / 10). Smaller wins, like free movie tickets generally don't care.
Appreciate the response. I might make a new email dedicated for competitions
Matbe call dedicated eml address 'mycompentries@
I like your optimism,though.
Some sites don't like the + option with gmail - but maybe going forward I'll utilise sticking a dot in a random but consistent spot in my emails that I don't use for anything else e.g. shad.owsfury@
Real name, separate comp email, real address (entered many, many comps, don't get junk letters in my mailbox), separate SIM.