DON’T FALL FOR PRIZES

BEWARE entering contests in a bid to boost your income.

Competitions are a cheap way for firms to advertise products. They tell customers that if they enter their personal details online or send off a postcard they will be entered into a prize draw. You may want to set up a different email address to save getting spammed.

While some people do get lucky with new cars and lavish holidays, not all competitions are genuine. Some are scams and may ask you to send off a cheque as an ‘administration fee’ to claim a prize.

In reality there is no prize and the money vanishes.

Others bury caveats in the small print. It might state that the firm only hands out all the prizes if every promotional code on its products is entered into the competition website. This means if just one eligible customer fails to enter, some prizes could be withheld.

Others may issue prizes only if they receive an entry on a specific day determined by a computer algorithm.