CONSUMER ADVISORY
Iowans receive millions of sweepstakes
notices every year. But sweepstakes mailings
are much more likely to bring big problems than big prizes -- problems such as
dashed hopes, unnecessary purchases, and even huge losses.
One of the most troubling facts is
that many older Iowans have lost thousands of dollars apiece -- sometimes tens
of thousands -- to sweepstakes operations. Sweepstakes often have misled older Iowans to believe they are about
to win, and that buying more merchandise or magazines will make the difference.
Older Iowans (and their families and their advocates) need to be on the
lookout for harmful sweepstakes.
By law, sweepstakes prizes cannot
be awarded on the basis of whether you purchased merchandise. Don’t buy products you don't need in the mistaken
hope that it will help you win a huge sweepstakes prize!
And here’s another serious danger:
Some sweepstakes mailings are used to locate potential targets for telemarketing
fraud. If you respond, you may then be targeted by
fraudulent telemarketers trying to get you to pay for a phony “prize.”
Follow these tips to avoid being misled
by sweepstakes offers:
C
Remember: BUYING DOES
NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING!
C
Be skeptical of letters
and post cards claiming to be "official" or "urgent" or that
try to appear like personalized correspondence addressed only to you. You can bet that thousands of people are receiving
the same notice and that you were not "specially selected" to win, as
sweepstakes so often suggest.
C
Don't be fooled by common
tactics sweepstakes use to falsely make you believe that you have won or are close
to winning, such as personal-looking letters from company employees, or maps to
your home to deliver your so-called prize.
C
Don’t fall for any claim
that you must pay money to get a “prize” released to you.
To
file a complaint -- or to get advice if someone you know is losing large amounts
of money to sweepstakes -- contact the Attorney General's Consumer Protection
Division, Hoover Bldg., Des Moines, Iowa 50319. Call 515-281-5926, or 888-777-4590 (toll-free.)
The web site is:
(“click
on protecting consumers.”)
