Online photo contests are usually scams

[rodent]

Please, look them up before entering one. My step sister just entered a picture of her son in one of these contests. She paid $40 to do it & gave them her friends & family members email addresses. From what I've read, they will now be spamming me.

 

In order to vote, you go through pages of adds & they ask for all sorts of info like your cell phone number so they can send you text spams. They also don't reward the prize unless they get over 2,500 entries which doesn't always happen. So it's there was of not paying anyone anything after all these people sent in their $40 entry fee.

 

The contests go by many names. This one was the great american photo contest, but there are so many more just like it.

 

I am really hoping the spam is only for people who entered their email address to vote. She gave them my primary email address & I do not want to go through all the hassles of changing to a new address. I have so many things set up with this account.

 

If you are ever unsure about something, just search the name of it with the word scam. You can usually find info that way.

[**TIFFANY**]

Thanks for the heads up. I got an e-mail yesterday to my work e-mail about a cute kid contest. Not sure how they got my e-mail address and the even more funny part about it is I DON'T even have kids yet! But if I did I'm sure I would have been interested and probably wouldn't have searched further into it so thanks for the heads up.

[Jessica]

"Cute Baby" photo contests are some of the biggest scams. My friend entered her kid in that Great American Photo contest and I got so many spam emails from them because she sent me an invite to vote. Obnoxious!

[rodent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessica "Cute Baby" photo contests are some of the biggest scams. My friend entered her kid in that Great American Photo contest and I got so many spam emails from them because she sent me an invite to vote. Obnoxious!

this is what I was worried about. Was the spam so bad you had to change email addresses?

[rodent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcram Thanks for the heads up. I got an e-mail yesterday to my work e-mail about a cute kid contest. Not sure how they got my e-mail address and the even more funny part about it is I DON'T even have kids yet! But if I did I'm sure I would have been interested and probably wouldn't have searched further into it so thanks for the heads up.

a friend probably entered the contest & gave them your email to get you to vote for them.

[Jessica]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morgan this is what I was worried about. Was the spam so bad you had to change email addresses?

It was annoying but not horrible. Luckily they all filtered to my spam inbox so deleting them quickly was easy. But surprisingly enough it died off at the end of the contest.

Like I would get daily emails from the website telling me to vote for my friend, then get like 5 or 6 "Your Kid Should Be A Model!" and other baby related emails. But once this contest that she entered was over I didn't get anything else.

Thank goodness I didn't have to change email addresses because this was my "professional" email, where send resumes from, etc. I would have been pissed.

[Dmitri_Markine]

Not all of them are scams. I've won over 2 dozen national and international contest. Some were free and some had fees up to $50 per picture with really amazing prizes.

You need to do your research prior to entering the contests.

Here are a few tips:

Google those sites and read what past contestants say.

Find the sponsors. Good contests have good sponsors(ex. Canon,Sony,etc)

Find the judges. Most legit contests will tell you who the judges are.

Avoid any contests you find through any spam links(ex. from email spam)

Use common sense!

Always use a separate spam email for anything like that. Avoid any "free" stuff,especially from facebook ads. They are all scams. In fact, half of all the ads on facebook are from scammers. They either want your email address or your credit card information.

 

Good luck!!