If you’re asked to pay or send gift cards, it’s a scam. Sweepstakes winners should not have to pay anything to claim prizes. There are “processing fees” or other charges.Smaller prizes are sent by certified mail.Įxample of a fake PCH sweepstakes letter. They do not give winners any advance warning before the Prize Patrol shows up. Publishers Clearing House always awards large cash prizes in person with their famous Prize Patrol. You receive a notice about a prize that is over $10,000 in value. ![]() Here’s how you can tell if you’re being targeted by a sweepstakes scam: If you’re asked to pay anything to claim your winnings, you’re dealing with a PCH scam.Įven if you’re not asked to pay upfront, there are other red flags to look out for when dealing with a fake PCH award. If you’re a legitimate winner, you won’t be subject to fees or charges before you can claim your prize. The bottom line is that Publishers Clearing House never requires winners to pay. Try Aura’s top-rated identity theft protection with credit monitoring free for 14 days to protect your accounts and sensitive information from scammers. ✅ Take action: If you accidentally give scammers your personal information, your bank and credit card accounts could be at risk. In some versions of this increasingly popular scam, victims are asked to send their Social Security number (SSN), bank account details, or other personal data - giving scammers everything needed to steal their victims’ identities. You lose the money you sent to them and never receive your prize. After you’ve given the scammers what they want, they hang up. After you pay, the scammer disappears.This gives fraudsters instant access to the funds on the cards. They’ll ask you to provide the PIN (found on the back of the gift card) over the phone or via email.This allows them to disappear with victims’ money without leaving a paper trail. Scammers often demand payment in gift cards from popular stores (such as Amazon or eBay). ![]() You’re then told that to claim the prize, you must first pay taxes, fees, or shipping costs.In most cases, the prize is a large cash payment along with a new car, vacation, or other valuable high-ticket item. You receive a message or letter claiming that you’ve won a valuable prize. Scammers target victims with phone calls, emails, or text messages.Here’s an example of how a typical PCH scam plays out: The Publishers Clearing House scam is a type of sweepstakes scam in which fraudsters impersonate company representatives and claim you’ve won a prize.īut the whole thing is a setup to get you to either send them money (or gift cards) or disclose enough sensitive information to enable them to steal your identity and empty your bank account. How Do Publishers Clearing House Scams Work? ![]() However, while the company itself is legitimate, scam artists are using its name and brand recognition to trick people into giving up money and personal data. The company awards between $3 million and $13 million to Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes participants every year. PCH has marketed merchandise and magazine subscriptions to American households since 1967 and has given away more than half a billion dollars since it was founded. No, Publishers Clearing House is not a scam. In this guide, we’ll explain how PCH scams work, the red flags to look out for, and what to do if you’ve sent money or information to scammers. If you think you’ve won a prize from Publishers Clearing House (PCH), you need to be especially careful with how you proceed. Fraudsters use the promise of life-changing winnings to persuade you to send them money or provide sensitive information that they can use for identity theft and fraud. Publishers Clearing House scams may seem like an outdated scheme, but cases have increased 240% in 2022 alone. The good news is that the man realized he was being targeted by a scam - but not until he’d already sent off $500 worth of gift cards. There was just one catch: Before the Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol would show up with an oversized check and a bottle of champagne, he needed to send $31,000 in prepaid gift cards to cover “fees” and taxes. But the letter and check looked legitimate. When a Pennsylvania man opened his mail, the last thing he expected to find was a check for $12.5 million from Publishers Clearing House. Did You Really Win Millions From Publishers Clearing House?
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