Fake contests in apps · Code with Martin

A contest in an app can be a trap

A fake contest promises a phone, V-Bucks, Robux, a skin, “just like and share”. Sometimes it looks like the official game page. Sometimes it is an ad in an app or a message from a “moderator”.

The rule from Hunter lesson 2 still holds:

If you did not enter a draw, you did not win.

Plus in apps:

they want sign-in outside the official game store
they want sharing into a story with tags of strangers
they want a small fee or a card
they want a phone number “for prize delivery”

An official game contest is usually on the official site or in news inside the game — not in a DM from a stranger.

💡

A parent can say: “You always show prizes. If it is meant to be secret, it is not a prize.” One sentence at home saves lots of clicks.

Signs of a fake contest

congratulations on a thing you did not enter for
rush — “the prize expires”
a payment — even a “symbolic” one
sign-in through a link in chat, not through the app from the store
a request to share and tag friends — it spreads the trap further

If a friend shares a “contest”, you do not click. You say: “That looks like a scam. I will show a parent.” A good friend will show it too.

What to do

Do not click. Do not sign in.
A screenshot for a parent.
Check with a parent — the official game channel?
Report in the app, when a parent says so.
Warn a friend calmly, not with mockery.

What to say

“They congratulate me on a prize, but I did not enter. I am not clicking.”

“They want sign-in outside the game. I will show a parent.”

How it fits the projects

🏫 Campaign. You did not enter a draw = you did not win.

Family rules. A prize only with a parent.

👤 Profile. A contest that wants to tag a profile = suspicious.

Now you 💪

With a parent, find the official page of one game you play. Where does the game announce contests? Write on the audit: official channel = …

The official site or news in the app — a bookmark with a parent.
A sentence: “I will show a prize to a parent first.”
Into the campaign: Did not enter = did not win.

✅

Check: A fake contest = rush + sign-in outside the game. A parent with prizes. You warn a friend calmly.

What to take from this lesson

Did not enter = did not win.
Sign-in only officially, not from a DM.
A fee = stop.
A prize always with a parent.