Don't Max Out Your Card Yet

Credit card users may want to think twice before they go on a spending spree to increase their chances of winning the credit card receipt lottery. In addition to the budget damage such a splurge could cause, the odds of winning a prize do not always increase with more use of your plastic.

The first through fourth place lottery winners are, indeed, chosen through a random drawing of credit card purchase receipts. But the fifth- and sixth-prize winners, which overwhelmingly outnumber the winners of more lucrative prizes, are selected on the basis of a credit card number, not a receipt number. Fifth-place winners, some 20,000 of them, get a prize of at least 100,000 ($77) , while 80,000 sixth-prize winners get at least 10,000 won each.

Once chosen, the winners of the smaller prizes can increase their winnings based on the number of times they used their plastic. Sixth-prize winners, for example, get 10,000 for the first five receipts, and the prize can be as much as 50,000 won.

by Lee Hyo-joon