[sdfignaionio]

>This is just a form of “you may have already won!"

If someone contacts you claiming you have won a prize, and it appears to be from a real but shady business (e.g. a car dealership), consider falling for it. The scam is most likely illegal and you may be able to collect. Your local government should have a consumer protection agency that can help you do so. Just keep your cool and document everything.

I've taken two car dealerships to court for this. It was fun and profitable.

Also, it appears the scam is illegal at the federal level.

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/01/...

I am not a lawyer. You should read your local laws.

[smeej]

How "profitable" are we talking about here? The time expense of going to court can be pretty high, but for a high enough reward, I'd consider "falling for" many things!

[sdfignaionio]

I got settlement offers of $500 and $1000, the amounts of the advertised prizes, before going to court. In the first case I got the offer as soon as the consumer protection agency e-mailed the dealership. In the second case I got the offer as soon as they received formal notice of suit. Filing the reports took me about fifteen minutes. Filling out the notice of suit took me about an hour, most of which was research.

I took them to court because the settlement offers contained clauses I didn't like. I could have recovered the money with less work. Going to court took an afternoon, most of which was spent sitting in a waiting room.

[mcpackieh]

I think there's a non-zero risk that you'll eventually run afoul of local organized crime like this.