How easy is it to Cheat on contests!!

[hollyhill]

I don't know where to post this but I have a big question...

I am trying to win a voting contest which ends in two days...
In this particular contest I was knocked down to zero points 3 times... and after my and many others complaints they reworked it and started it again.... then the first day I watched some one get 300 votes... OK I reported that...

LG knocked them down to zero... second day they came galloping backwith 300 votes. LG elliminated them.
Now, I am way in the lead after 10 days I have 500 votes. Then second place challenger shows... up.... and gradually catches up. Fair enough, except alltheir votes for the day (150 or so) add up over 3-4 hours in the evening.... Doesn't that seem fishy?

I must admit I beginning to be jaded and suspect every contest.
Another voting contest caused me grief this spring... that person managed to get 250 votes over 2 hours... she was finally found out and elliminated too...

OK, so maybe I should avoid voting contests BUT how do we know these same people aren't somehow cheating in regular sweepstakes??? How do we know they aren't stacking contests with 100s of entries to our one? If it is so hard to "find them out" in visible contests, how easy is it to find them in hidden contests????

[Sally888]

I'm sure the company logs ips to check to see if their cheating.

[hollyhill]

Is it easy for companies to do that? Do you think it is routinely done to check out potential winners before the prize is awarded?

The two times I mentioned above... it took the companies ages to figure it out... or so it seemed.
I sure hope there is some easy way for them to check up on everyone and make sure people are following the rules...

[itsjustme2006]

I voted for you

[jessandjake2005]

I voted for you

[tad01]

Voted for you too.

[EastEndGuy]

I voted for you too

[itsjustmebub]

Holly, I'm not implying YOU are cheating, but didn't your vote count go up by 200-300 since yesterday as well? I remember seeing you in the 300's (because the next closest person, now in 3rd place had just a few votes less than you) and now you are in the 600's ...
So, maybe however you are getting so many votes is the same as the other people! Networking, networking, networking!

[maggierocks]

I voted for you

[kenrod]

You got my vote, and a bonus Rep as well!

[hollyhill]

Holly, I'm not implying YOU are cheating, but didn't your vote count go up by 200-300 since yesterday as well? I remember seeing you in the 300's (because the next closest person, now in 3rd place had just a few votes less than you) and now you are in the 600's ...
So, maybe however you are getting so many votes is the same as the other people! Networking, networking, networking!

Woah, I wish I went up that much in one day!
It went up that much over the weekend.
The third place fellow and I were working steadily at it and then the other person (silver x) went up the entire way and passed me over the weekend. On Friday I was at 340 votes.
He/she also gets 90% of their votes in the evening. Weird.
Anyways I have learned how to take screen shots from the past experience. and took a snapshots, which showed a jump of 225 votes in 3 hours...
And I have definately been fortunate with my "network". Friends who stuck with me in the beginning and were annoyed as I have been with all the glitches, problems etc with this LG contest.

But all these problems just got me frustrated and thinking about all contests in general (even though it is the two voting ones I was in that showed me all the "tricks" people use), and how well they are regulated and if the organizers make sure the rules are even followed. I guess I was hoping someone knew some "insiders" and could assure me and bring back my "faith"....

And thank-you so much to everyone who voted... as you can see I need the help.

[onlybluemomma]

I voted for you.. good luck!

[AndieH]

they don't routinely do it (track IPs that is) some do, some don't. we know for a fact they didn't in the doritos guru contest. and, there was rampant cheating in the tripcentral video contest as well. it's very very disheartening. i'm pretty discouraged from the contests that require a great deal of effort only to have someone come in and *clearly* cheat and be rewarded.

Is it easy for companies to do that? Do you think it is routinely done to check out potential winners before the prize is awarded?

The two times I mentioned above... it took the companies ages to figure it out... or so it seemed.
I sure hope there is some easy way for them to check up on everyone and make sure people are following the rules...

[hollyhill]

they don't routinely do it (track IPs that is) some do, some don't. we know for a fact they didn't in the doritos guru contest. and, there was rampant cheating in the tripcentral video contest as well. it's very very disheartening. i'm pretty discouraged from the contests that require a great deal of effort only to have someone come in and *clearly* cheat and be rewarded.

Oh no really? You had to deal with it too! I am so sorry to hear that... I am disappointed that the companies don't make a better effort not to reward cheaters....

I sure hope the same thing doesn't happen in regular contests????
By the way Andie thanks for your help...

[Blouse]

I just voted for you. Good Luck.

I rarely enter these because others seem to be able to get huge numbers of votes.
There must be "tricks" as you say to getting large numbers of votes.

I'd prefer to be in a random draw that is fair !