Howdy!

Has anyone had any problems with www.onlinephotocontest.com or OTHER similar contest sites?

I am skeptical that they are announcing that one of my photos won an honorable mention, but they will not display the photo until I submit certain information to them, including my address, phone number, and social security number (the latter of which I will NOT provided as I am responsible for any taxes.) These are the red-flags of a scam operation! "You've WON... now give us your SSN, etc." True, I have to offer my address in order to receive the prize, but my social security number?!

Anyway... are these online digital photo contests legitimate? And how can I be sure that these sites will not abuse the image I send them (duplicate them, print them, etc.)?

Thanks, P

-- Paul S (zeugma@sonic.net), August 16, 2000

Answers

As it happens, the request for SSN may be legit. - We ran a contest for Olympus last summer, that gave away 5 of their then top of the line digicams. We looked into all sorts of legal stuff to be sure we were covering all the bases. (All sorts of obscure state laws about contests & sweepstakes to be aware of, if you ever intend to do something like this.) One of the things we had to *absolutely* do though, was be sure to report any prizes awarded to the IRS. To do this, we had to have people fill out a government form (I forget the number, it was some sort of a W-4 equivalent), and give us their name, address, and SSN, so we could report it to the government.

Like you, I'm **very** leery of giving anyone my SSN for any reason, and in fact we had one gentleman who actually *won* one of the cameras, but who wouldn't give us his SSN. We unfortunately had to pass over him and award his camera to the next randomly selected person, because we didn't want to get our tails in the wringer with the IRS.

I'd be very suspicious though, if they ask for that stuff for some piddling prize. (Congratulations, you've won a mouse pad with your photo inlaid in it!...) I'd say if it's something $50 or less, shine it on. If it's hundreds of dollars, maybe worth the chance. Of course, you have to be sure they really are going to award the prize.

(FWIW, I understand that it's entirely possible to find people's SSNs through online searches if you're clever and persistent enough. - They're maybe not as secret as we'd all like to think they are...)

-- Dave Etchells (web@imaging-resource.com), August 16, 2000.

Why not scam them, and give them a bogus SSN?
If they can cross reference it and check up, then they didn't need you to give it to them in the first place. If they can't, then you're home free.
Ah!, the wonders of logic, and a devious mind.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), August 31, 2000.