When working online or surfing the net, have you ever seen a pop-up telling you that you are the winner of a particular item or trip or something of the sort? If so, did you respond to the ad by filling out your particulars so that you could claim your winnings? I have seen pop-ups like this on a few occasions telling me that I have won something, and usually it is something nice like a flat screen television set or a technological gadget. However, I have never responded to these offers or taken them seriously. I have a relative who won a cruise this way though. She responded to the offer and was able to go on a cruise with a friend of hers as well as another relative, and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. What do you think of these online winnings? Have any of you ever won anything this way? How can we tell which ones are legitimate?
I'm actually wary of those sites, because it seems that they just want to get your credit card details and then charge you stealthily once you accept their "special offer" or they sell your email to other companies. Your relative was lucky to have won a cruise, but is that really 100% free? Like she did not have to spend money on a product?
As far as I know the cruise was totally free. I don't remember her saying that she had to pay for anything extra. She won the cruise for herself as well as for 2 others to accompany her. She may have been one of the lucky ones who was not scammed, but as for me, I am usually wary of these types of offers so I never click on the link that they ask me to click on or give out any personal information. Some of the offers seem too good to be true although they may be some exceptions. However, since I don't know which ones are legit and which ones are not, I stay clear of them.
I've won some digital credits from my favorite mobile game by watching streams and participating in their raffles. Unfortunately the amount wasn't much but I'm just glad to have won something anyway as I don't really win raffles all that often or at all in the first place. Another unfortunate part of that is that they stream regularly at a time when I'm asleep since if am on different timezones as the developers, so I'm not able to participate as regularly as I would like, but I'm okay with it because I can enjoy the game without spending credits anyway and they also provide a way to just earn it so I can manage even without winning credits regularly.
I have won a big box of skittles It was some time a go when i hit share to one of these Facebook like and share games.So I won a box full of tiny packes of free skittles candy LOL
I never take any notice of pop ups on the internet, because I always get the feeling that they are scams just trying to get money from people. However I have won things a few times from competitions that I have entered online, so I do always think that it is more than worth trying your luck, as you never know when it might be your lucky day, and you could win something that you really want!
I haven't really won anything from online. I do see these ads all the time saying that I've won something. But to be honest, I've never clicked on them because I was pretty sure they are scams. Actually, they're the main definition of scams. But you mentioned that your relative has won from these ads and that has made me question my decision all these years, lol. If I clicked on one of these, I would have won a cruise myself! I doubt it though, I'm pretty unlucky with contests like that. Plus, some of my friends have been victims of these ads. They filled in their information and it got stolen. The last thing I would want is for my identity to be stolen. So I just don't think I'd take the risk really. Now, if it's a reputable company doing the giveaway, why not? However, that doesn't happen nowadays.
@sunnyside, If that's the case, then your relative is quite lucky, especially if it's tax-free. Maybe the company is big and well-known that's why they can afford to give away such prizes. The ones that we usually encounter online are the phony ones.
For me ,those pop-ups, are annoying and only cause my computer to get virus. I've always had such a bad image of them in my head , and i never clicked on one of those as they seem very suspicious.
I personally have never won anything online, but I hope to one day. I have an Mplus account and usually redeem some of my earned points for sweepstakes. Can't win if you don't enter, right? My wife makes fun of me for it but I always tell her that one of these days, I'm going to win. Her mom actually won an entire surround system before from entering the online contests and whatnot. Took her a while, but her name finally got pulled.
Not from pop-ups and sweepstakes, those are scams all the time. But I have won many samples and I have gotten products for reviews before. I guess the best one I got was Clinique cc cream that I got, full-size, for review. It is not cheap, so I was very thankful for that. I wasn't crazy about the product, but still!!
I highly recommend that you stay away from these unsolicited notifications telling you that you have won something like a laptop or a smartphone or a wad of cash. In most cases, these notifications, especially the pop-up ones, are nothing but scams. The general rule is that if you don’t remember joining any online contest, then there is no way that you are winning anything.
I use an ad blocker, so don't often receive pop ups. I don't trust them, and often don't even click through from ads I see online, even from apparently legitimate sites. I do enter a lot of sweepstakes and contests that I know to be legitimate, though. I have won a few prizes over the years, but nothing too major. My most recent win was a cell phone, and I'm enjoying that.
Like others, I stay away from pop ups that say I've won a prize. I see a lot of those when I scan my spam mail. If I truly won a prize I expect to see it delivered to my door. My thoughts to those pop ups are the same as the pre recorded phone calls telling me I have won a trip. Send me the tickets...
I participated several times over online contest and sometimes I win a humble bundle key codes to purchase games at GOG.com or Steam. Is more exciting than just buying the games with my own money, but yeah is not a way to secure things yourself. I only do it for my own amusement.
There is usually, if not always, a way to enter sweepstakes and contests without any purchase or obligation. It's important to look for that notice, and click in the designated place. Otherwise, you could end up with a financial obligation. I have had that happen a few times when I entered sweepstakes in a rush, and simply clicked through, rather than looking for the appropriate link. Also, you shouldn't have to pay for shipping your item. If it's over a certain value (usually around $500 or $600 here in the United States), you will be asked for your tax information. Even for smaller prizes, sometimes you are required to fill out an affidavit of eligibility.
I've never won prizes from those sorts of pop up type adverts, but I've won T-Shirts before from some companies for sharing their brand on social media and things like that. I think there are legitimate competitions out there but there's also a lot that aren't. As long as you're careful though you should be able to get something.
