Chapter 5 · 7 recipes

Giveaways and contests: X search recipes

Real giveaways with rules, contests that want entries, and the wording that gives giveaway scams away.

Chapter notes

Giveaways on X range from a small shop handing out three mugs to outright scams that ask winners for a "small fee". These recipes help you find the first kind and recognize the second.

A real giveaway usually states how to enter, when it ends and how the winner will be contacted, so the searches look for words like "rules", "to enter" and "official rules". Larger brands run sweepstakes with formal rules pages, which filter:links helps surface. min_faves:20 drops the many one-like posts that are usually bots.

Never pay to receive a prize, and never connect a crypto wallet to "verify" a win. The last recipe searches for exactly those phrases, which is a quick way to see how common the trick is in your topic. If you run a giveaway yourself, check the platform rules on X and the promotion laws where you live first.

The recipes

5.1

Giveaways with clear rules

Real giveaways explain how to enter. A like threshold drops the bot posts.

Fill in

Topic

"board games" giveaway (rules OR "to enter" OR winner) -filter:replies min_faves:20

Open on X (Latest)

What each part does

"[topic]": Your topic, in quotes so a multi-word value is matched as one phrase.
(rules OR "to enter" OR winner): Any one of these is enough: rules, "to enter", winner. OR has to be written in capitals.
-filter:replies: Removes replies.
min_faves:20: At least 20 likes. The operator keeps Twitter's old name for likes. Large counts are approximate.
giveaway: A plain word: it must appear somewhere in the post.

5.2

Giveaways ending soon

Last-call posts, sorted by Latest so the ones still open are on top.

Fill in

Topic

giveaway ("ends tonight" OR "ends tomorrow" OR "last chance") "board games"

Open on X (Latest)

What each part does

("ends tonight" OR "ends tomorrow" OR "last chance"): Any one of these is enough: "ends tonight", "ends tomorrow", "last chance". OR has to be written in capitals.
"[topic]": Your topic, in quotes so a multi-word value is matched as one phrase.
giveaway: A plain word: it must appear somewhere in the post.

5.3

Check that an account picks winners

Before you enter, see whether the account has announced winners before.

Fill in

Account handle

from:shophandle giveaway (winner OR winners OR congrats)

Open on X (Latest)

What each part does

from:[account]: Only posts written by [account handle]. Type the handle without the @.
(winner OR winners OR congrats): Any one of these is enough: winner, winners, congrats. OR has to be written in capitals.
giveaway: A plain word: it must appear somewhere in the post.

5.4

Giveaways from checkmarked accounts

Cuts the noise. A checkmark is not proof of honesty, so still read the rules.

Fill in

Topic

giveaway "board games" filter:verified -filter:replies

Open on X (Latest)

What each part does

"[topic]": Your topic, in quotes so a multi-word value is matched as one phrase.
filter:verified: Keeps only posts from checkmarked accounts (X does not document exactly which checkmarks count).
-filter:replies: Removes replies.
giveaway: A plain word: it must appear somewhere in the post.

5.5

Creative contests that want entries

Writing, photo and design contests usually link to a submission page.

Fill in

Topic

("photo contest" OR "photo competition") (submit OR entries OR deadline) filter:links

Open on X (Latest)

What each part does

("[topic] contest" OR "[topic] competition"): Any one of these is enough: "[topic] contest", "[topic] competition". OR has to be written in capitals.
(submit OR entries OR deadline): Any one of these is enough: submit, entries, deadline. OR has to be written in capitals.
filter:links: Keeps only posts that contain a link.

5.6

Sweepstakes with official rules

Bigger brands publish formal rules. The phrase plus a link finds them.

Fill in

Topic

"board games" (sweepstakes OR giveaway) "official rules" filter:links

Open on X (Latest)

What each part does

"[topic]": Your topic, in quotes so a multi-word value is matched as one phrase.
(sweepstakes OR giveaway): Any one of these is enough: sweepstakes, giveaway. OR has to be written in capitals.
"official rules": Matches the exact phrase “official rules”.
filter:links: Keeps only posts that contain a link.

5.7

Spot giveaway scam wording

No real prize needs a fee or a wallet. See how common the trick is, then report what you find.

giveaway ("DM to claim" OR "small fee" OR "verify your wallet" OR "processing fee")

Open on X (Latest)

What each part does

("DM to claim" OR "small fee" OR "verify your wallet" OR "processing fee"): Any one of these is enough: "DM to claim", "small fee", "verify your wallet", "processing fee". OR has to be written in capitals.
giveaway: A plain word: it must appear somewhere in the post.

More chapters

New to the operators? Read X search operators, explained. All 71 recipes are also on the home page, where you can filter them and save favorites.