Concerned about the freepostcodelottery

rhialwencomp

I've been checking http://freepostcodelottery.com now for a while (I'm up to like £6 something on the bonus so I suppose it's been a couple of years).

Trouble is I'm getting more suspicious of it as time goes on. When I joined you could see the postcode without logging in. Now you have to sign in before you can see it. And then today I noticed they've added what is presumably a unique identifier to the address (I've snipped mine out on the link here).

I just feel like it would be super easy of them to... I don't know. I suppose draw twice- show one to everyone and then show a different one to the winning one.

They could just draw from postcodes that haven't been entered but with more entering perhaps that's why they changed it. Would't want people to look and find the winning postcodes are abandoned houses or anything.

And at the same time it's ad supported so I wouldn't exactly want to put out a daily update or anything in case they are legit.

I'd like to stress that I don't expect to win- statistics being what they are- but it just seems dodgy to me the way they've done it.

Al1x

I thought they only draw from the postcodes that have entered.

I've not won but signed up a few years ago.

I just click the link on the email they send everyday, i do this on my phone and have never actually signed in on there.

System

I know two people personally who have won, one in the last fortnight, so they are legitimate. Anyone can enter any postcode, so if there was a drawing for a derelict house or an empty street or whatever, then it would have come from someone signing up to try and cheat the system.

tizerbelle

rhialwencomp wrote: »

Trouble is I'm getting more suspicious of it as time goes on. When I joined you could see the postcode without logging in. Now you have to sign in before you can see it.
I've set a cookie so it logs me straight in. But so what if you have to login to see it. Its a way to increase membership and the site is funded by advertising so the more members the more advertising revenue and the more Chris shares with the winner and earns himself.

And then today I noticed they've added what is presumably a unique identifier to the address (I've snipped mine out on the link here).
That identifier wouldn't be something like /?ref=xxxxx (where x's are numbers) would it? In which case it's a referral link - could be your own one - read the referrals tab. I don't use it to access the page I just use www.freepostcodelottery.com

I just feel like it would be super easy of them to... I don't know. I suppose draw twice- show one to everyone and then show a different one to the winning one.
Are you a conspiracy theorist by any chance?

They could just draw from postcodes that haven't been entered but with more entering perhaps that's why they changed it. Would't want people to look and find the winning postcodes are abandoned houses or anything.

And at the same time it's ad supported so I wouldn't exactly want to put out a daily update or anything in case they are legit.
IMO definitely legit

I'd like to stress that I don't expect to win- statistics being what they are- but it just seems dodgy to me the way they've done it.

Honestly, I think you are being a bit paranoid / uber-cynical about a site that knows nothing about you other than an email address and postcode, doesn't send spam emails, doesn't ask for your money and only needs 30 seconds of your time a day

freepostcodelottery rocks!

geordie_joe

Originally Posted by rhialwencomp
Trouble is I'm getting more suspicious of it as time goes on. When I joined you could see the postcode without logging in. Now you have to sign in before you can see it.
the site is funded by advertising so the more members the more advertising revenue and the more Chris shares with the winner and earns himself.

In theory yes, but to be honest I can't see it making much from the adverts. Most people will just go to the site, check todays postcode then go again without clicking any of the ads.

I just feel like it would be super easy of them to... I don't know. I suppose draw twice- show one to everyone and then show a different one to the winning one.
Are you a conspiracy theorist by any chance?

I'm not, but I've been using the internet for a lot of years now, and Fidonet before the internet became accessible to the general public. In all the years I have spent online I have learned that if there is a way to con people, most will try it sooner or later.

A psychologist once said conning people on the internet is only half a step up from finding money in the street, so most will will do it given the chance.

They could just draw from postcodes that haven't been entered but with more entering perhaps that's why they changed it.

I read not long ago that there are 7 million postcodes. But that site says less than 6% of postcodes are registered, so theres still a lot of non-registered postcodes to draw from.

And at the same time it's ad supported so I wouldn't exactly want to put out a daily update or anything in case they are legit.
IMO definitely legit

I have absolutely no evidence to show it is not legit, but I could think of very easy ways it could be a con, and if I can think of them others can too, and oftten have.

I'd like to stress that I don't expect to win- statistics being what they are- but it just seems dodgy to me the way they've done it.

Honestly, I think you are being a bit paranoid / uber-cynical about a site that knows nothing about you other than an email address and postcode, doesn't send spam emails, doesn't ask for your money and only needs 30 seconds of your time a day

But it also a site that has a sole purpose of making money from the adverts on the site. The whole lotery thing could just be a con to get lots of visitors to the site.

tizerbelle wrote: »

freepostcodelottery rocks!

I don't click on any of the ads on the site, so I don't earn it any money, and so far I have not had anything from the site, so I would hardly say it rocks.

A better description would be a site that does nothing for me and in return I do nothing for it.

rhialwencomp

tizerbelle wrote: »

Are you a conspiracy theorist by any chance?

Nah, just aware that if a company can get away with not paying you money, most of them will take that opportunity.

And no, I don't think it was referral links- it was my homepage so it was just plain when I put the link in, but the history shows it was loading a different code at the end each time. Weirdly it's gone back to plain now. Dunno what all that was about, but doesn't matter I suppose. Some techie stuff no doubt. :rotfl:

If katykicker knows real people who have won then that's good enough for me.

cally6008

I'm a real person and I've won twice Main draw once when it was £20 and the £50 referral competition.

I can find the payments in paypal and upload confirmation if you would like to see them, also got screen shots of my win, details of which will also be on the website as well

rhialwencomp

cally6008 wrote: »

I'm a real person and I've won twice Main draw once when it was £20 and the £50 referral competition.

I can find the payments in paypal and upload confirmation if you would like to see them, also got screen shots of my win, details of which will also be on the website as well

Ah no, don't go to any trouble.

Two people who aren't one post wonders talking of wins is plenty to put my concerns to rest.

Thanks everyone. Can always count on MSE to be honest. :beer:

Wizzbang

Thanks for bringing this site to my attention. I have just signed up- looks very kosher to me!

SailorSam

I'm up to over £10 in my bonus and check every day, but haven't had a win yet.

applepies

Not sure if this is the same free postcode lottery, but there was an article in the Evening Standard on 28 Aug about it. http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/londoner-launches-his-own-online-lottery-that-makes-people-happy-and-50-richer-9696120.html