# Are those "Congratulations, you've won \_\_\_" popups ever legit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 10, 2005, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-those-congratulations-youve-won-___-popups-ever-legit/320976 "2005-09-10T13:50:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-those-congratulations-youve-won-___-popups-ever-legit/320976/1 "2005-09-10T13:50:10Z")
Yeh, I know, I’m a sucker. But a $500.00 Wal-Mart card sounded good enough that I decided it would be worth spending half an hour going through the redemption process and signing up for tons of spam. But I finally get to the end and the “free” card is dependent on signing up for a book/ CD/ DVD etc. offer. I tried picking the E-Bay credit card; but after struggling valiantly to decipher the boilerplate, I still couldn’t figure out the answer to a simple one-bit yes/no question: Would I have to pay money if I signed up for this card? I finally gave up. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-those-congratulations-youve-won-___-popups-ever-legit/320976/2 "2005-09-10T14:03:05Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Are those “Congratulations, you’ve won \_\_\_” popups ever legit? No. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-those-congratulations-youve-won-___-popups-ever-legit/320976/3 "2005-09-10T20:15:35Z")
No. They exist for the sole purpose of gathering information on you, especially your e-mail address. Fill one out and you will be spammed out the gazoo. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-those-congratulations-youve-won-___-popups-ever-legit/320976/4 "2005-09-10T23:34:29Z")
A former coworker of mine did one of those “Fill out this survey for a chance to win $100!” things once. To everyone’s slack-jawed flabbergastment(?), a few months later she got a check for $100 in the mail. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-those-congratulations-youve-won-___-popups-ever-legit/320976/5 "2005-09-11T00:20:37Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > No. They exist for the sole purpose of gathering information on you, especially your e-mail address. Fill one out and you will be spammed out the gazoo. I’m not convinced this is completely accurate (although it may be a part of the picture). I think the idea is that you only get the prize if you sign up for lots of services or products. I’d be very surprised if you get the $500 certificate without spending a significant sum of money. Economic logic dictates that it cannot be any other way. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-those-congratulations-youve-won-___-popups-ever-legit/320976/6 "2005-09-11T01:25:30Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > I’m not convinced this is completely accurate (although it may be a part of the picture). I think the idea is that you only get the prize if you sign up for lots of services or products. I’d be very surprised if you get the $500 certificate without spending a significant sum of money. Economic logic dictates that it cannot be any other way. Actually, I clicked on one of those popups and went through the steps one time, just to see if it really was legit. I went through a proxy and used a throwaway Yahoo email address. It shouldn’t come as any surprise that it was pretty bogus. In order to get the certificate, there were a number of conditions and purchases of other products (I remember one was a six-month AOL commitment.) Not only that, but you needed to get _several friends_ to sign up for the products and services, too - and then, of course, they could qualify for the certificates by getting \*their \*friends to sign on, and so on… The last time I stopped in at that Yahoo email account, it was filled to bursting with spam, “free offers”, “special programs” and all that. Make of it what you will. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-those-congratulations-youve-won-___-popups-ever-legit/320976/7 "2005-09-11T03:22:28Z")
They’re about as legit as an announcement that you won the Publisher’s Clearinghouse sweepstakes…sent by bulk mail. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-those-congratulations-youve-won-___-popups-ever-legit/320976/8 "2005-09-11T06:55:35Z")
Off to MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-those-congratulations-youve-won-___-popups-ever-legit/320976/9 "2005-09-11T07:39:01Z")
As I recall, the “Get a free iPod” a few months back was legit, and a few people actually got them, albeit a bit slowly. ---
**Author:** ![BrattiAtti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c57346/32.png) [@BrattiAtti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrattiAtti)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-those-congratulations-youve-won-___-popups-ever-legit/320976/10 "2005-09-11T16:35:36Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > … I still couldn’t figure out the answer to a simple one-bit yes/no question: Would I have to pay money if I signed up for this card? Yeah, you would. I’ve filled 'em out, signed 'em up, willingly accepted an overload of spam (hey, if they’re going to _pay_ me, I have nothing to lose). These credit card offers _never_ fail to include in their terms & conditions the clause that the credit card must be used at least once for a purchase of X amount or a balance transfer or cash advance of other X amount. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-those-congratulations-youve-won-___-popups-ever-legit/320976/11 "2005-09-11T20:16:36Z")
> [@Electronic Chaos](#): > > As I recall, the “Get a free iPod” a few months back was legit, and a few people actually got them, albeit a bit slowly. Yeah, they’re legit but require the successful referral of several people and everyone involved gets their inbox flooded with spam. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-those-congratulations-youve-won-___-popups-ever-legit/320976/12 "2005-09-11T22:42:33Z")
> [@jackelope](#): > > A former coworker of mine did one of those “Fill out this survey for a chance to win $100!” things once. To everyone’s slack-jawed flabbergastment(?), a few months later she got a check for $100 in the mail. Skepticism-sense tingling. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-those-congratulations-youve-won-___-popups-ever-legit/320976/13 "2005-09-12T02:46:09Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > Skepticism-sense tingling. I don’t blame you. But it happened; I saw the check myself, and she went to the bank and deposited it, and it didn’t bounce. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-those-congratulations-youve-won-___-popups-ever-legit/320976/14 "2005-09-12T03:15:33Z")
I’m inclined to think none of them are legit, but I haven’t tried claiming any “prizes.” When the “prize” is a vacation, however, I can pretty much guarantee that the “prize” isn’t free. At best, the “prize” is a discounted vacation you’ll have to pay for (probably more than you’ d have paid through Travelocity or Expedia)… plus an opportunity to listen to more sales pitches for time shares.