There are hundreds of contests online today. Many claim that they award prizes ranging from small prizes to millions of dollars. The requirements to join are usually establishing a user account by providing the site with your name, address, and possibly filling out a survey. Many are in the form of games. There are contest pools that a large number of sites join.
Sites buy into the contest pools so they can offer a chance at winning a prize, such as a car.
But the chances that you will win one of these contests is mostly likely less than the chances you face in a regular lottery. So when you see five or ten different sites giving away a BMW Z3, they're probably all referring to the same car in the same contest pool. Once the sites get your personal information, they turn around and sell it. Not all online contests fall into this category, but most of them provide you with little chance to actually win. Tell us your story.