Prize Offers: You Don’t Have to Pay to Play!

Prize Offers: You Don’t Have to Pay to Play! series Written Solicitations


Many sweepstakes promotions arrive by mail as a letter or postcard that instructs the consumer to respond by return mail or phone to enter a contest or collect a prize.

The Deceptive Mail Prevention and Enforcement Act helps protect consumers against fraudulent sweepstakes promotions sent through the mail. The law prohibits:

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claims that you're a winner unless you've actually won a prize.
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requirements that you buy something to enter the contest or to receive future sweepstakes mailings.
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the mailing of fake checks that don't clearly state that they are non-negotiable and have no cash value.
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seals, names or terms that imply an affiliation with or endorsement by the federal government"

A lot of our members still indulge in the SASE method of sweepstake entry and aware of the inherent risks, but we post this to the blog so that any new members can brush up on the idea of written solictitaions as well.