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How To Spot Publishers Clearing House (PCH) Scams!

Hi blog readers! Have you ever received a message from someone who claims to work for PCH? Maybe the message notified you that you won a big prize. Maybe it told you that you needed to pay money to claim that prize. Unfortunately, these messages are Publishers Clearing House scams! They are not from the real Publishers Clearing House. We’ve done a lot here on the blog to try to alert you to these PCH scams, but we thought it might be helpful to provide you with some excerpts from actual scams that were sent by fraudsters illegally using the PCH name, in order to dupe you.

Before we get started, here are few important things to remember: You NEVER have to pay to claim a PCH prize. Winners of our larger prize award amounts are surprised in person by the Prize Patrol, NOT sent messages on Facebook or emails like this. Publishers Clearing House scams often have MANY spelling and grammatical errors. Try to read them out loud … you’ll see how nonsensical they sound. An official PCH message would not be written like that!

Let’s get started!

This message is not from PCH, it is a PCH SCAM! How can you tell?

For starters, none of the above or these contest details are legitimate. If you were to ask a PCH employee about a “Super Bucks Giveaway,” we would be quick to tell you it does not exist. Also, we are in no way associated with the U.S. Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission. AND if you were to use PCHSearch&Win to research that supposed government authority, you would find that it does not even exist in the U.S.

This message is not from PCH, it is a PCH SCAM! How can you tell?

Again, the grammar is off in many places. Just a few examples: “you are been advised,” and “your fund remitted to your account”. Plus, take a look at how the prize amount is written: “$1.200,000.00”. There’s a decimal instead of a comma after the “1”.


This message is not from PCH, it is a PCH SCAM! How can you tell?

They repeated the “this is part of our security protocol” sentence TWICE within the same paragraph! Also, PCH never asks you to keep quiet about your winnings. Quite the opposite! We’re always proudly posting pictures and videos of our winners! But the scammers want you to stay quiet so they can get your money without the authorities finding out.

This message is not from PCH, it is a PCH SCAM! How can you tell?

It’s easy! This message contains the BIGGEST red flag — it asks you to pay money to claim your prize. Remember: you NEVER have to pay or make any purchase to claim a prize from Publishers Clearing House. Also, if you ever hear/see the words “GREEN DOT MONEY PAK CARD” in a message from someone claiming to be from Publishers Clearing House, head for the hills! The scammers will take the account numbers from this card, cash the money you spent on it, and never award you the prize, because there never was a real prize — they are scammers.

There you have it folks. These are just a few ways you can spot PCH scams! As always, you should always verify the information in any winner notification you may receive before making any risky moves. And if you ever have any questions, let us know!

Stay safe everyone!

Laura Wolfe @ PCH

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Comments

  1. I was just contacted by Dave Sayers Badge number DS4215 I won 2 1/2 million. My claim number is K3194980 Package number 2027797. He asked me to repeat all the numbers. I know it is a scam but thought I would report this in case they try it on some one else.

  2. I was called from his scamer for pch. he gave me his real phone number so I thought I’d give that number to you if so you can put it on the scam list. He said he was David Parker and he had me call him back at this number in New York 347-557-8197. So soon as I said I didn’t have a bank account he hung up, which I did have a bank account but i wasn’t going to tell him that.

    1. Hello Ray, I am really happy that you knew that it was not the real PCH who contacted you! We never notify major winners over the phone or through standard mail, email or Facebook. We would really appreciate it if you would send us the details of this scam call you received. PCH does not send private Facebook messages to our fans so please complete a Scam Incident Report. Here’s how: http://bit.ly/Report-Scam-To-PCH. There are a lot of scammers out there who use the good name and reputation of PCH, as well as the names of those of us on the Prize Patrol. Please be careful everyone!!

  3. Hello Gloria, Thank you very much for reporting the scammers that have contacted you. Stopping them is a team effort and we are happy that you are doing your part. While it may be tempting, we don’t encourage you to interact with them any more than is minimally necessary. Simply tell them that you know they’re not the real PCH and hang up or disconnect your mode of contact with them. To stop scammers from contacting you on Facebook, check out this PCH Blog article: http://bit.ly/StopFBScammers. As a reminder, you can report scammers to PCH at this link: http://bit.ly/Report-Scam-To-PCH. Be careful and stay safe everyone!!

  4. This is Dorothy again just had new caller on my cell phone which I just gave to Mr. Miller from my house phone saying he needed to give me details about my winnings but first I needed to go to my bank and chase check for 9000. and call him back. I’m sorry I ask him if he was crazy. He tried to convince me he was for real. Asking if I had every won anything in the past and how lucky I was to have won$2 million 3hundred 45,000.

    1. Hi Dorothy, Please report all contacts from scammers to PCH via this link: http://bit.ly/Report-Scam-To-PCH. PCH does partner with the Federal Trade Commission and we send all scam reports to them so please make sure you let us know anytime a scammer contacts you. Remember, the real PCH never notifies major prize winners via phone, standard mail, email, or social media, and we never ask winners to pay to claim their prize. You can see more Safety Tips here: https://bit.ly/FraudProtection2. Stay safe and have fun everyone.

  5. This has brought some in site to a scam. Now I just received a phone call from someone that has said they have been trying to reach me and I am the winner of 1.5 million dollars an 10 thousand to life an a 2024 Mercedes they didn’t ask for any information they had it. An this guy with a number that comes up Jamaica, New York said they will be out at 5:30 pm today to deliver my cashiers check an winning package am I going to be robbed in a home invasion or did I win.

    1. Hello Louis, We’re so happy that you knew that wasn’t the real PCH who contacted you. We will never ask for money to claim a prize. We also don’t notify winners via phone, standard mail, email, or social media. Please report all scam contacts to PCH via this link: http://bit.ly/Report-Scam-To-PCH. We encourage everyone to review the following Safety Tips to better protect themselves from being scammed: https://bit.ly/FraudProtection2

  6. I have just received a new one, phone call came in today and it said it is a prerecorded message to let me know to call a phone number to talk to Todd Sloane at PCH for my winning and to give them a code which they included it and the phone number, it came through 2 times on my phone today.

    1. Hi Chris, Please report all contacts from scammers to PCH via this link: http://bit.ly/Report-Scam-To-PCH. PCH does partner with the Federal Trade Commission and we send all scam reports to them so please make sure you let us know anytime a scammer contacts you. Remember, the real PCH never notifies major prize winners via phone, standard mail, email, or social media, and we never ask winners to pay to claim their prize. Stay safe and have fun everyone!

  7. I BELIEVE I RECEIVED A PCH-SCAM NOTICE. I WAS NOT ABLE TO GET MORE INFORMATION BECAUSE I WAS TALKING TO A RECORDED MESSAGE FROM A REPRESENTATIVE OF PCH. CAN’T YOU GET A REAL PERSON TO HELP YOUR CUSTOMERS AND KICK TO COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS YOU NOW HAVE OUT? COMPUTERS ARE GOING TO BE THE DOWNFALL OF PCH, UNLESS YOU HIRE SOME REAL PEROPLE TO DEAL WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS

    JOHN CHAMBERS
    352-$$$-$$$$