Actions

Publishers Clearing House warns of persistent scammers

By: Pete Knutson

Posted at 3:20 PM, Mar 26, 2024

and last updated 2024-03-26 16:20:26-04

TULSA, Okla. — According to the Federal Trade Commission, scams are running rampant across the country.

Folks are falling victim to scammers who claim they’ve won the famous Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes.

It all starts with an event that’s promised to happen soon. This event will change a person’s life forever after folks from Publishers Clearing House travel to their home, knock on their door, and give them their prize.

Sometimes, PCH gives away millions in prizes. It's all on the up and up, of course.

But the hype and excitement of those huge sweepstakes prizes can quickly sweep away someone’s life savings by criminals posing as PCH imposters.

“They’re calling, scamming,” Tanya told the Problem Solvers.

She said her brother already sent a gift card to scammers who claimed he won the PCH million-dollar sweepstakes.

Tanya’s brother was told the money was needed to pay to have the prize delivered and to pay taxes.

“Had him buy a gift card for $299, but they continue to call from the same number,” Tanya told us.

Tanya said her brother was about to send more gift cards before she caught on to what was going on and quickly stopped him before he lost hundreds, even thousands of dollars more.

“That’s not real. That’s not from the real PCH,” said Chris Irving, vice president for consumer and legal affairs at PCH. “The one tip your viewers should know to stop all loss is that if you’ve won a legitimate prize from PCH or any legitimate sweepstakes, you never have to spend any money, pay any amount, pay gift cards, a tax, never.”

PCH and the Federal Trade Commission said they hope to combat the surge and scourge of imposter scams through education and enforcement.

It’s an uphill battle, though, as many of the imposters are offshore, in places like Jamaica and Costa Rica. They are also persistent.

If some are arrested and convicted, there are other crooks happy to take their place.

“These guys, the scam artists, are pretty sophisticated. They try to say all the right things,” Irving said.

Scammers bombard thousands and thousands of would-be victims, anywhere and everywhere, with letters, phone calls, emails, and texts.

Even Irving himself gets scam letters that said he’s a big winner.

Ironically, the letter Irving received even has his name on it, as the crooks usually use the names of real PCH employees to make the scheme seem more legitimate.

That makes it even more personal to folks like Chris, who’s furious scammers would use his name to rip people off.

“It’s kind of sad, actually, to see it happening in such a prevalent way that I would get it myself,” Irving said.

He worries how easy it can be for a would-be victim caught up in the day-to-day rush of life to fall prey to scammers who know how to manipulate their targets.

“They tell people, keep it confidential, don’t tell anyone about it. Why? Because they don’t want someone to reach out to law enforcement or a relative to say stop, don’t send any money.”

Fortunately for Tanya’s brother, that’s exactly what she told him to do: Stop sending money. That’s why she called the Problem Solvers.

“I just wanted to let you know that, and if you could report it, that they are scamming people.”

The real sweepstakes folks want to warn you, too, even as they deliver real prizes.

“It’s what we do, we change people’s lives, we give them money.”

So, here are the important tips from the Federal Trade Commission and PCH that should be remembered.

Real prizes are free. Never pay.
Scammers tell you to act now.
They use names that look like the real thing.
Never give them financial information, and never give them your personal information.
That goes for any time you’re told to pay for a prize, whether it's PCH or any other company or organization.

If you’ve been scammed, PCH said, report to local law enforcement.
You can also report it on the Publishers Clearing House website: info.pch.com/fraud-protection