How to check if a prize competition is legit

Online prize competitions — car draws, cash giveaways, the raffles drawn live on Facebook — are hugely popular in the UK. Most are run by honest people. But as a punter you usually have no way to check that, so you end up taking the operator's word for it. Here's how to do better.

1. Look them up on the Fair Draw Register

The quickest check: is the operator on an independent register? Search their name or website on the Fair Draw Register. If they're listed, they've been vetted as a real, traceable business and every paid draw runs through a process anyone can check. If they're not listed, it doesn't automatically mean they're dishonest — but you have no independent way to verify their draws, so you'd be trusting them.

2. Check they're a real, traceable business

A legitimate operator will show a registered company name and address, and be contactable. Be wary of competitions run only through an anonymous social media page with no business details anywhere.

3. Understand why a live draw video proves less than you think

A Facebook Live of someone spinning a wheel or pressing a random-number button feels reassuring, but it can't show you whether the wheel was spun off-camera first, whether the number range matched the tickets actually sold, or whether your ticket was even in the list. A video proves someone pressed a button — not that the draw was fair.

4. Prefer draws you can actually re-check

The strongest sign of fairness is a draw you don't have to trust: the full ticket list sealed in public before the draw, a winning number that comes from a source nobody controls, and a certificate showing the maths so anyone can redo it. That's what a certified draw gives you.

The bottom line

You don't need to be an expert. Ask one question before you buy: “Are you on the Fair Draw Register?” Honest operators have nothing to lose by joining, and it gives you a way to check rather than hope.