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Recently we've been hearing reports that scammers are accessing and using the names of our real PCH employees in their criminal attempts to deceive you. Names you've come to know and recognize such as real members of our famous PCH Prize Patrol. To learn more about how to stay safe and protect yourself from fraudulent scammers, please click here. Remember, PCH never calls customers nor winners to tell them they have won. Recognizing the difference between legitimate sweepstakes and other types of offers that may not be legitimate will help you protect yourself and your family. This year, one of our clients called us because he had won a Publishers Clearing House prize of $18.5 million and needed to speak with me as soon as possible.
Recent Consumer Alerts
When the caller said all that, Guthrie started taking notes. The person on the phone gave her a badge number and told her to go to the nearest Walmart or Walgreens to prove her identity through money gram. In July, the Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement in a case involving 244,745 consumers in the United States, Canada and elsewhere who were defrauded by a Next-Gen sweepstakes scheme. The deadline for consumers to cash their checks or claim their PayPal payments is Oct. 17. Publishers Clearing House and other legitimate sweepstakes do not require you to buy anything, place an order for something or hand over money to cover a tax or fee of any kind to collect a real prize. But the best way to protect your money is to watch out for those red flags of a scam and stop before sending any money or handing over any personal information.
How to Recognize Publishers Clearing House Scams
The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize. Learn more about consumer topics at consumer.ftc.gov, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts. As part of a sweepstakes scam, the crooks often try to convince you that you'll be sent a huge check for your prize after you pay some sort of processing fee and taxes up front. Typically, they're going to ask you to put cash on gift cards or send money via a wire transfer. The scam starts with a call or letter saying you’ve won the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes.
Playing it Safe: Explore the FTC's Top Video Game Cases
$10,000” McKinley Harris from Winston-Salem exclaimed in 2018. While the check appears to be real, it's actually a fake. Even if a bank teller says a check has “cleared,” the BBB warns, the check could be detected as a fake weeks later. "One thing you can be sure of is that you will be on the hook for any funds drawn against the amount," the BBB said. "Actually I thought he had been drinking," said Levise, 72, who is retired after jobs in the supermarket industry and as a personal assistant for a broker in real estate. She now enjoys freelance photography, especially taking photos at the waterfront at twilight at the "moment when the light meets the dark."
To avoid this kind of sham, it is wise to familiarize yourself with fake check scams. How do you know if a profile is the real Publishers Clearing House or a scam? First, nobody from Publishers Clearing House will ever send friend requests to you on Facebook. Second, the PCH Prize Patrol members (Danielle Lam, Dave Sayer, and Howie Guja) and PCH employees do not send private messages on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Third, Publishers Clearing House does not notify our winners through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other social media website. Finally, if you ever receive a message or contact asking you to send any money to claim a prize IT IS A SCAM.
PCH Doesn't Email or Call Its Big Winners
Publishers Clearing House imposter strikes again, claims 'Prize Patrol is waiting' - WKMG News 6 & ClickOrlando
Publishers Clearing House imposter strikes again, claims 'Prize Patrol is waiting'.
Posted: Mon, 30 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
First, familiarize yourself with the common Seven Elder Abuse Scams. Knowing how they will try to trick you can help protect you. More recently, in June 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that Publishers Clearing House agreed to settle a lawsuit with the agency for $18.5 million. The FTC said it would detail the refund process soon.
However, this was nothing more than an old scam. The reality here was that the company only notifies winners of their prizes by visiting them in person with their PCH Prize Patrol. They never award prizes over the phone, on social media, in email, or through the mail. The second is that the scammer will go as far as to send you a fake check. However, in the United States, sweepstakes sponsors will need to send the winner an affidavit prior to sending any check over $600. Thus, if you have not received an affidavit, there is a good chance you are being set up by a fraudster.
Related Refunds
Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes are legit, but not every win notification from them is. Many scammers misuse the PCH name, pretending to come from the company when they really come from someone hoping to steal your money or your identity. Some of those scams are sophisticated enough to make it difficult to tell if you've really won or not. Whether it's the grand prize or a smaller prize from any sweepstakes or business, you never have to pay upfront, no fees, not taxes, not shipping.

Its pretty OBVIOUSLY a scam to sell product, but a local guy did win here about 10 yrs ago. I think its a GOOD thing FTC is exposing the truth. We are SO GULLABLE nowadays we BELIEVE ANYTHING without Vetting 1st. NOBODY bothers to check things out even with all the internet at our fingertips. I wish they would do something about the robocalls. This blog post was updated on July 6, 2023 with information about refunds.
Second, if you are a client of a fee-only fiduciary financial advisor, reach out to them anytime you've been cold-called for money. Over the years, we have heard and learned to evaluate many different appeals for money both from illegal scam artists, legal financial sales pitches, and real financial predicaments. As fiduciaries, we are on your side to ensure that your goals are met. Perhaps the most frightening part of the story is that he was told that after he had the money in his bank account, a personal representative by the name of Norma Dixon would accompany him to the bank. This is exactly the same name used in the exact same scam in this report from over a year ago. Second, neither the IRS nor state taxes are required to be paid in order to get your prize money.
Publishers Clearing House steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, but reached settlements in the cases. As part of the agreement, Publishers Clearing House vowed to define terms like “finalist” so that people wouldn’t be deceived into thinking they had already won. Big legal troubles began in the 1990s as Publishers Clearing House and rival companies began to address customers with words like “finalists” — lawsuits followed. If you or someone you know have ever won their sweepstakes, the question of legitimacy may be moot, but for the majority of us, the question — “Is Publishers Clearing House a scam? In the event that PCH does contact a winner, it will be one who won $10,000 or less, and that will typically be done via an overnight express carrier such as UPS, FedEx or USPS Express Mail. I'm guessing that the money comes from the money they make off of the purchases they try to get everybody to make.
Police warn of scam calls claiming to be from Publisher's Clearing House or Mega Millions - WECT
Police warn of scam calls claiming to be from Publisher's Clearing House or Mega Millions.
Posted: Mon, 12 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
She called the Better Business Bureau instead to check out if this really was a scam, just in case, and possibly shine a light on what she thought could spell financial trouble for some other retirees and seniors. She had never heard of having to send someone thousands of dollars to claim a prize. PCH provides customers with assistance and can answer any sweepstakes questions you may have. If you wish to report a scam contact to us, you may do so by clicking here to fill out and complete a scam incident report.
It states clearly no purchase necessary to win and a purchase will not increase your chance of winning. People don't read any print, not just fine print and of course it's everyones fault but their own. They have never added anything to my cart either. Ive never heard of them putting things in your cart you didnt order.
The first is an attempt to retrieve personal information from a person, including some of the things mentioned earlier (social security number, address, date of birth, etc.). In essence, these people are looking to commit identity fraud. Therefore, you should never give out any of this information online, particularly to those who are claiming to be from PCH. It happened to me last week, the difference was thatthey were going to bring me a check for $14,500,000to my door. I guess fortunately for me, when i calledthe "876" number, which i later learned was Jamaica,no one answered. The man that called identified himself as John Miller, and gave me a "badge number." He insisted i write down everything he told me.
Please click on this link for more information and stay protected. You can also follow these steps to report a scam directly to Publishers Clearing House. Those checks aren't legitimate, and you'll be left holding the bill. If you switched to a new annual plan within 60 days of your initial Aura annual subscription, you may still qualify for the Money Back Guarantee (based upon your initial annual plan purchase date).
But that’s not the only way scammers get your money with this scam. Some will send you a realistic-looking fake check in the mail. You’re told that, to claim your prize, you need to deposit the check and send some of the money back for made-up expenses. But when the check you deposit bounces — even after it seemed to clear — you may be on the hook for the money you sent. We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain.