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Deliberately rigged competition?

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jajaja
jajaja Posts: 12 Forumite
edited 18 December 2015 at 11:33PM in Compers chat corner
Hello forumites and competition lovers,

Scenario: you have evidence that a competition being run online by a reputable company was impossible (not improbable, or unlikely, but rigged to be impossible) to win

This is not the first time the competition has been run, and it is being run with a different "theme" but the same rules. The promised cash prizes are significant, and the competition is probably generating the company a lot of online traffic - online traffic for this company most likely leads to money very quickly.

There have been public postings on twitter and on the MSE forums of people claiming to win, but you know that it is indeed impossible based on what you have seen. There are therefore two options: 1) the competition is rigged to use different rules for different groups of people (it has been chosen so it is impossible for one group of players, but others are allowed to win); or 2) the posts claiming "wins" are fake and designed to get more people excited about the competition.

No hacking or illegal activities were undertaken to get access to the evidence you have.

What would you do?

Edit: please do not ask me who the retailer is, or which competition it is. At this stage I am unwilling to say. Any response or lack thereof to such a question is not to be taken by me as implicit confirmation or denial

What would you do if you believed a competition was rigged to be impossible to win? 72 votes

Do nothing.
22% 16 votes
Tell everyone and show them the proof.
47% 34 votes
Ask for proof from people who have claimed to win.
5% 4 votes
Report it to (who)?
25% 18 votes
«1345

Comments

  • WeAreGhosts
    WeAreGhosts Posts: 3,111 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    some 'companies' are scams in the first place. are you sure it's not one of them?
  • jajaja
    jajaja Posts: 12 Forumite
    edited 18 December 2015 at 9:12PM
    some 'companies' are scams in the first place. are you sure it's not one of them?

    Good question. In this scenario it is a reputable site, and even well recommended by the MSE community. The competition is being recommended by users on the MSE forums.

    Original post edited to reflect this.
  • Difficult to say without knowing what the evidence is. If it was circumstantial then it would be difficult to do anything. If the evidence was irrefutable then you would need to establish if any laws were being broken before deciding who to report it to.
    2017 wins: Jan : 50p Quidco, Microwaveable soup mug and can of soup (Tesco). Feb: 50p Quidco. The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit (Goodreads), Evoshave, Wilkinson Hydro 5 Razor, Microwaveable soup mug and can of soup (Asda) :j
  • mjm3346
    mjm3346 Posts: 47,268 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Ask for proof from people who have claimed to win.


    I have seen lots of people claim that a competition is rigged simply because they did not win a prize so I would ask to see the evidence to prove that something was rigged.
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    There is a competitions overseer.... can't think of the name right now. Find them and report it. It's their "job" to investigate.
  • mjm3346
    mjm3346 Posts: 47,268 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    jajaja wrote: »
    1) the competition is rigged to use different rules for different groups of people (it has been chosen so it is impossible for one group of players, but others are allowed to win);


    Without knowing what the competition is, maybe it is one where the "winning randomness" factor is determined at the time of entry.
  • Moneybot
    Moneybot Posts: 11,391 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Join a forum and start a poll thread...
    Rational judgement, now, at this very moment.

    Virtuous action, now, at this very moment.
    (Wisdom, Courage, Self-control, Justice)

    Willing acceptance - now, at this very moment - of what you can’t change
  • jajaja
    jajaja Posts: 12 Forumite
    Moneybot wrote: »
    Join a forum and start a poll thread...

    Brilliant idea.
  • jajaja
    jajaja Posts: 12 Forumite
    PeggyM37 wrote: »
    Difficult to say without knowing what the evidence is. If it was circumstantial then it would be difficult to do anything.
    mjm3346 wrote: »
    I have seen lots of people claim that a competition is rigged simply because they did not win a prize so I would ask to see the evidence to prove that something was rigged.
    mjm3346 wrote: »
    Without knowing what the competition is, maybe it is one where the "winning randomness" factor is determined at the time of entry.

    Very good points. The competition outcome is determined by software (javascript) code in the browser (which, would never be the case if you actually intended to pay out money to people as it is very easily for a cheating user to force it to pay out). The software code, while long and complex †, is absolute proof that it will never payout ‡

    † I work with this stuff every day so it is easy enough for me to see that it will
    never pay out - not a brag, just a boring fact which reflects slightly badly on how exciting I am, or am not.
    ‡ Unless, as I mentioned originally, it was designed to send "non-payout" code to a certain group, and "random payout" code to another group. This is very unlikely as, again, the users getting the "payout" code could still cheat. With any "win money" games, the win/lose decision is only ever decided on the server (unless designed by idiots).
  • Moneybot
    Moneybot Posts: 11,391 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    jajaja wrote: »
    Brilliant idea.


    Too late been done
    Rational judgement, now, at this very moment.

    Virtuous action, now, at this very moment.
    (Wisdom, Courage, Self-control, Justice)

    Willing acceptance - now, at this very moment - of what you can’t change
This discussion has been closed.
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