You’re walking through the shopping mall, and you see a shiny chrome motorcycle sitting in the center of the atrium. Beside it is a huge sign: “Win this bike!” There is a stack of entry cards sitting on a table, and people are filling out the cards and dropping them into a slotted box. You think to yourself, Why not? I’d like to win that bike, and it’s just a contest. You fill out the card and cross your fingers to win, but by doing so, you just opened yourself up for a resurgence in junk mail and telemarketing calls.

Those contests that pop up in malls, festivals and sporting events are less about giving away a free vehicle and more about collecting consumer data. When you fill out the card, you have a minuscule chance of winning the bike (or boat, or car, or RV), but you usually DO give the company conducting the contest the right to contact you with other offers. In fact, other contests, brochures, catalogs and offers may also start to appear in your mail as your information is sold to third parties. You will also get phone calls, and they often start with something like, “Ms. Smith, you filled out an entry form at the Bass Pro Shop in June of 2006, and we’re calling to extend another great offer to you…” It can take years for the calls to stop, even if you tell them point-blank to take you off their lists. Unfortunately, this is the voice of experience talking; I didn’t win the boat I registered for, but I still get calls with new offers to this day.

The same advice goes for sweepstakes forms you receive in the mail. If you want to enter to win that fabulous grand prize, read the fine print and see whether you can “opt-out” of being put on any mailing lists when you enter. If you can’t stay off their mailing lists, don’t enter the sweepstakes! Your low odds of winning don’t compensate for the high odds of getting more junk mail. The contact information for the people who enter those contests is almost always sold or rented to other contest companies, sweepstakes and lotteries.

The bottom line is this: No matter what contest you enter, whether at the mall or in your mail, ALWAYS check the contest rules to see how your information will be used. Some contests are more likely to be the source of future junk mail headaches for you than others, and the fine print will usually disclose that information if you investigate. Look for any suggestion that you’re giving consent to receive future information, extra offers or additional communications.

If you do fill out that contest form and regret it later, what can you do to stop the sweepstakes junk mail from rolling in? You can start by calling the company sending the information. They usually print a number on their forms, so you can contact them and ask to be removed. Sometimes, the company will include a reply envelope in their pile of junk mail (with which you’re supposed to enter the contest that they’re advertising), so you can try putting instructions in that envelope to remove you from the mailing list and then send it back to the company.

And the next time you see the seemingly-innocuous kiosk at the mall that advertises a free car to a lucky winner who fills out an entry form, keep walking.

Sources for this article: The Maryland Attorney General’s Consumer Publications, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Contests at About.com