I was recently contacted about a competition that I entered and told that I had won a prize.
The company, ‘Yowie World’ has asked that I supply a copy of my photo ID to confirm that I am over 13 years of age.
Is this a usual practice? Or am I at risk of identity fraud?
Should I sent a copy of my drivers licence? If so, is it okay to black out my licence number?
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Hi Ronnie, welcome to the community.
It seems most unusual. Even when registering for cash backs from sales promotions we have never needed to provide photo ID. The sales invoice has been the primary identification. It’s also high risk, insecure to send something such as a copy of your license etc through regular email.
Perhaps others might offer some comment re the competition. If the promotion is from a genuine business such as Cadbury, it would be appropriate to find a customer service number and call, them re your concern. Just do not use any of the contact details from the prize notification or original competition. They could all be fake or misleading?
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I presume you were advised what you won, and have a good idea of the value.
Yowie World appears to be a public company with an ABN and ASX submissions linked to their web site.
As such the likelihood of identity fraud is low, but as @mark_m posted, it seems high unusual to request ID for anything excepting quite major (eq very valuable) prizes. It seems the only contact information is via a contact form with no other details, although a significant amount of information can be obtained via their investors link at the bottom. Yowie Group Ltd is registered as a business in Perth so is not likely ‘fly by night’. There are numerous contact details in the public company documents.
If I won a worthwhile prize and needed to provide ID I would be blacking out everything but name and date of birth, noting it seems a very unusual request, espcially to show one is over 13. What Photo ID do 13-17 year olds normally have? School and transit cards? Think about that…
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It is usual practice if the conditions associated with the competition state it is only for contestants over a certain age qualify as a winner in the competition. If the competition related to adult only products (say a meal at a pub where a glass of alcohol would be served), they will often ask proof of age. Some competitions also require proof of residency (either Australian or of a particular state/local government area).
Check the terms and conditions of the competition you entered at Yowie World as it is likely to say that one needs to prove their age if they win the competition. If you entered the competition, you have agreed to such conditions since you have won. If you don’t agree, it means that your entry may become invalid and they will redraw the prize.
Edit: The monthly competition which pops up on their website states that
‘I confirm that I am 13 years of age or older’.
I suspect that this is the competition you have entered. The T&Cs associated with the competition state
All winners must be able to provide verification that they are eligible to enter.'*
To meet this requirement, one would need to provide evidence that they are in fact over 13 years of age. This might not necessarily be in the form of a driver’s licence, but a passport or other legal forms of ID which can be used to confirm one’s age. If you chose not to show ID, let them know as you will have to forfeit your prize as you now don’t agree to the T&Cs, even though you would have ticked that you did when you entered.
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Welcome to the forum It is good that you have asked the question before handing over your details.
I would not be giving out information like photo ID of any form. Even if it was legitimate, I would be very reluctant to provide them with a copy of my ID.
Most competitions I have entered that have homes, vehicles, or other large value prizes only require you tick a box that you are over 18. If I won a major prize, I would be prepared to show my licence in person, but wouldn’t send off a copy.
Having had a look at the https://yowieworld.com/ website, everything seems to be aimed at children, and there aren’t any competitions, let alone for over 13yo. There is also a YouTube channel called Yowie World which points to their website address above. This then has me wondering if they would have a prize that requires you to prove that you are an adult because children wouldn’t have a driver’s licence.
Have you checked the veracity of the competition? Was the competition on the yowieworld web site?
Is the email address the message was sent from an address such as xxxxx@yowieworld.com? The important part is the @yowieworld.com. Make sure there is no difference because scammers utilise spelling variations such as youwieworld.com, or add bits such as yowieworld.competition.com.
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