Avoiding the scammers on Facebook

If you are a comper who uses Facebook, it won't be very long before one of your friends invites you to an "event" where there are a massive number of prizes to be won, or maybe even a prize for every one accepting the invitation. There doesn't appear to be any catch - everyone accepting will get a £250 voucher for Tesco or Asda, a pair of expensive shoes or, in the latest incarnation, tickets to Alton Towers.

Before you think "I'll give this a go, after all, I have nothing to lose" just stop and think for a moment. Often these events claim to be giving away millions of pounds worth of freebies - how could any business afford to do that? A genuine competition is more likely to be giving a single large prizes, a number of smaller prizes or a mixture of both. A huge gift to every entrant is just beyond the budget of even the biggest companies.  Check on the timeline of the company alleged to be providing the giveaway - buy going to it directly, not through any link in the giveaway. If they really ARE being so generous, they'll be shouting about it from the treetops!

One big clue that it is a scam is that the scammers often use the term "Inc." as part of the company name - Tesco Inc., Alton Towers Inc., and so on, even when they are claiming to be a British company. British companies don't use the term Inc, so that should get your scam-detectors buzzing before you read any further. 

So what do the scammers get from it, and can it do you any harm to accept? Well,  scams  like this are called "Survey scams" because if you accept the event, the next step is that you will be told that before you can have your gift or prize, you need to complete one or more surveys. While completing them, you will be asked for your mobile phone number - and this is where it turns nasty. Because  once they have your mobile number, the scammers will start to send you expensive-to-receive premium rate texts, and once you start getting them they can  be very difficult to stop.

In some cases, when you "Like" the scammer's page, you will also find yourself authorising a Facebook app which can spam all your friends and send them yet more fake offers and events, in the hope that they too will sign up to be scammed.

And  at the end  of it all - nobody gets the vouchers, the shoes or the tickets!

You can read more about these scams in the Survey Scams section of Hoax Slayer - a very useful site to check if you are ever unsure about whether anything online is genuine. And do feel free to contact me on Facebook if you would like me to check whether a competition or offer looks genuine.  I can't promise to always have the answer, but I'll do my best to help.

Win a £20 Budgens voucher

If you have only ever done online comping, you may not be aware of entry form suppliers, but for those of us who have been comping since before the internet (or even, in some cases, since before the invention of the wheel) they are a familiar idea. They collect together all those hard-to-find forms and leaflets, and send you a monthly package that saves you from hours of trailing around shops and department stores.

Jenni Bower Tebbs is one such supplier. Recently she won a £20 Budgens voucher in the Walkers Crisps competition, and to introduce her service she is offering it as a competition prize.

To enter, write down what YOU would spend the voucher on if you won. Add your name and address and enclose a loose, unused first or second class postage stamp, then send your entry to

In To Win
Jennifer Bower Tebbs
5 Hawkstone Close
Huncoat
Accrington
Lancashire
BB5 6UD

The competition closes on June 30th.

If you would like to try her entry form service, the prices are: 1 month £5, 3 months £13.50, 6 months £25, 12 months £40. Cheques should be made payable to Mrs J Bower Tebbs. The service includes free in-store posting of all returned post-in-store forms that are sent out in her packs.

Two new competitons that close on May 14th

Hurry up and enter these - you've not got much time!

New competition from Holiday Autos: To celebrate their 25th birthday this month, they are knocking 25% off the price of car hire and giving their fans the chance to win some great gear to take on the road with you – from Kindles to iTunes vouchers. http://apps.facebook.com/sweepstakeshq/contests/223622 
To enter this week’s prize draw – for a £50 iTunes voucher– simply enter your details. Good luck!

Competition closes on Monday 14th May.

lastminute.com are offering a one night stay and spa access for two people, at one of London’s top hotel and spa destinations. To enter, just answer the question on ther Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/#!/lastminute.com/app_259137820816370

Competition closes on Monday 14th May.

I'm tweeting - can you see me?

Do you sometimes feel as if you are talking to yourself on Twitter? Nobody's responding to you, nobody's retweeting you and if you are a comper, you simply can't win a thing?

Have you ever felt invisible?

Well, you may be exactly that!

First of all, is your account protected? If it is, ONLY people you have approved can see your tweets.  If you RT a tweet from somebody you haven't approved, or send them an @ message, they simply won't see it.  So if you are a comper, you won't win anything if your account is protected, because few or no promoters will have applied for permission to follow you.

But what about if it isn't protected? Well, you can be filtered out of Twitter search for several reasons, and if you don't show up in search then promoters won't see  the tweets you have sent for entering their competitions with. So here are some tips to make sure you show up.

First of all, make sure your name is on your profile. Your Twitter name can be something crazy, if you like, but if  your profile doesn't include a real name and a potted biography, Twitter automatically gives your tweets a lower priority than if your profile is complete. This is one of their ways of making sure you are a human. (Human? I follow several goats, a van and a pigeon. And I think I'm fairly sane.)

Next, USE Twitter. Use it regularly. If you have a day or two of frantic tweeting and then don't bother for a few months, once again you will get a low priority. Try to say something now and then even if you have nothing to say.

Don't break any Twitter rules. As a comper, you probably don't think you are doing anything wrong, and I'm sure you aren't issuing threats or impersonating anybody, but just take a look at  the rules, especially the definition  of spam, because if Twitter thinks you are a spammer, your tweets won't show up to promoters:
      If you have a small number of followers compared to the amount of people you are following
      If your updates consist mainly of links, and not personal updates
      If you post duplicate content over multiple accounts or multiple duplicate updates on one account
      If you post multiple unrelated updates to a topic using #
      If you send large numbers of duplicate @replies or mentions
All those are pretty standard comper behaviour! In fact, Twitter has issued a special warning for compers:
      If you repeatedly post near-duplicate updates or duplicate links in order to enter contests, you may be filtered from search.

So, to sum up, the best way to make sure your tweets show up is MAKE IT CLEAR YOU ARE A HUMAN. Don't use Twitter just for comping, stop and say hello to people, join in with some chat, respond to the other tweets businesses post as well as their competition  tweets, or just tell the world how you feel today. If you are shy, or can't think of anything to say, come and say hello to me!

Welcome to the world Holly Louise Button

May Day will alwways be a special day in our family now - not because of Morris dancing or singing from the top of Magdalen Tower at dawn, but because it is now the birthday of our second grandchild. Holly Louise Button was born at 11.41 on Tuesday night, weighing 7lb 13oz and mother and baby are doing very well indeed. I know, I know, you don't want waffle, you want photos, so here they are!

Save money, be green and win a prize with EcoForce

How green are you in the home? Do you realise that by taking a few steps to  help save the environment you can also save money? EcoForce are trying to encourage us to think more about the planet and our own purse strings, and have provided us with  some helpful tips in the article below. And to help us make a start, they have offered us a chance to win a year's supply of eco-friendly cleaning products. To enter, pop over to  http://www.ecoforce.co.uk/win.asp where you have three chances to enter, once each with Twitter (look at my Twitter tips if you are not sure how to do this), Facebook and an online entry form.  The competition closes on June 30th.

Now here are some money saving and earth-saving tips!

REDUCE, RECYCLE, REUSE – HOW TO  BE FRUGAL AND GREEN WHEN YOU CLEAN!

Everyday laundry and cleaning tasks are some of the worst offenders when it comes to ‘greening’ your home.   We all know what the main culprits are, but there are plenty of little things you can do to make a difference and save money too......

Tumble Driers v Recycled Pegs

The Number 1, energy-guzzling baddie in the home - tumble driers, particularly older, inefficient machines, can cost as much to run per year as an appliance costs to buy!  Any item that generates heat uses more electricity to operate, a definite no-no!   Instead hang your laundry outside to dry in the sun or, if not convenient, use shower rods in the bathroom.  On cooler days your clothes may take longer to dry but you’ll save money on your energy bill and help the environment too.

To be really green, use clothes pegs made from recycled materials.  There’s no point buying products made from precious resources such as wood, when recycled versions do the job just as well, if not better, and cost the same.  Recycled plastic uses 70% less energy than that needed for virgin plastic, helping to reduce landfill, conserve precious fossil fuels and reduce emissions.  Nowadays you can get pegs, peg baskets and clothes lines all of which are made from recycled plastic.   Pegs contain no metal parts to rust and stain your clothes or fly off and hit you in the face!   Plastic takes over 400 years to breakdown in landfill but can be recycled many times over thus reducing the need to use precious oil to create new plastic.

Washing Machines

Always fill your washing machine before starting the cycle and wash at 30°C rather than 40°C to cut electricity usage and save money on your energy bills.

Ditch the Dishwasher

We all need to reduce water consumption and dishwashers have an unhealthy appetite for this most basic natural resource.  Using the dishwasher less, or not at all, will save money on your energy bill and help preserve water.  Instead, invest in a good quality washing up device made from recycled components that will last for years and is much cheaper than a dishwasher! (Dishmatic do a good one).

Green Cleaning with Meaning!

While it’s easy to rip up old shirts and sheets for use as dusters, some tasks require a tougher, more abrasive approach, such as tackling baked on debris, burnt saucepans, and heavily soiled barbecues.  If you do need to purchase task-specific cleaning products such as sponges or scourers ensure you buy recycled varieties.  Recycling is crucial because it reduces the demand for raw materials and keeps waste out of landfill.   As a nation we are creating more waste because we are consuming more.    We are more affluent and are lifestyles are changing to reflect a more ‘ready-made’ society.     

Win an iPad3 with Libon

I'm back! Thank you for all your kind comments and emails about my Mum. She is back in hospital at the moment, so I've come home to catch up with things here and to welcome my gorgeous new granddaughter to the world! While I was away, several people asked me to share their competitions with you and here is the first of them.

Libon Voicefeed is an iPhone or Android phone App which lets you customise your voice mail. They have just released Libon Voicefeed 1.9, which has been updated with even more exciting new features. It’s everything you want and need from your voicemail: custom greetings, one simplified screen for all of your conversations with one contact, voicetags to tailor your messages and text-to-speech transcription.

To celebrate the launch, they are giving away free premium accounts and an iPad 3. To enter, all you need to do is head over to their Facebook app and click the "Like" button by your chosen answer.

The competition is open worldwide, and closes on May 24th.