Scams and dodgy draws

The hobby runs on good news arriving unexpectedly, which is exactly the shape a scam likes to borrow. You can be a careful comper and still feel a jolt when a message says you have won. The trick is to let the jolt pass before you click, pay, or reply.

The fee to release a prize

No genuine UK competition asks you to pay a fee, a tax, a customs charge or a “verification deposit” before they will hand over a prize. Taxes on a private win are not collected that way, and in the usual case they are not collected at all — see the tax page. A message that congratulates you and then asks for money is the classic. It can arrive by text, email, WhatsApp, or a social account that looks one letter off a real brand.

Do not pay. Do not send a copy of your passport to unlock a hamper. Do not call the premium number in the message. If you think a real promoter might be trying to reach you, go to the site or the magazine yourself, by an address you already know, and check there.

Lookalike wins

You enter a real social giveaway. An account that is not the brand messages you to say you won, and the link goes somewhere else. Real claim messages come from the account or email domain you entered with, and they do not need your card. A prize that needs an address is normal. A prize that needs a payment is not.

Dodgy sites, as opposed to outright fraud

Some ticket sites are not fake so much as thin. No clear company, no explanation of what happens if tickets do not sell, winners announced in a way you cannot follow, pressure to buy more before a timer runs out. You are allowed to leave. Curiosity is not a deposit.

Pressure is the tell, more than ugly design. Honest draws can have ugly websites. Scams and weak promotions lean on urgency: last chance, you have been selected, only three tickets left at this secret price. A real closing date is a date. A countdown glued to every button is a mood.

Data, not just money

Some “competitions” exist to collect names for a swamp of further marketing, or worse. Read what you are opting in to. A box that signs you up to “partners” can mean dozens of lists. Use the competition email address. If a form asks for more than a promoter needs to award a prize — card details, copies of ID, your mother’s name — close it.

If you have already clicked

If you paid, contact your bank or card provider quickly and tell them it was a prize scam. If you reused a password, change it. If you shared documents, consider a report to Action Fraud and keep an eye on your accounts. None of that is fun. It is also not a reason to feel silly. The messages are built to catch people in a pleased, hurried moment.