Accessibility Statement

PCH Facebook Scammers Target Publishers Clearing House Employees

Beware of PCH Facebook scammers pretending to be real Publishers Clearing House employees!

Andy Goldberg
Deborah Holland
John Princiotta
Todd Sloane
Craig Anderson
Rick Busch
Bill Low
Anita Goldstein
Kevin Prinz
Wendy Smith
Susan Manning
Keith Bergendorff

Do these names sound familiar to you? They just might, because they’re all part of the Leadership Team here at Publishers Clearing House. Maybe you’ve seen their photos on our site  or read about them in the PCH blog. They’re always hard at work to ensure you have the best possible experience at PCH!

But, one thing they never do is send out friend requests to our fans on Facebook. So if you do receive a friend request, chat request or private message from someone claiming to be Andy Goldberg, Deborah Holland, Josh Glantz, (or anyone else from PCH, for that matter) ― they are NOT who they claim to be! They are PCH scammers on Facebook!

Unfortunately, some criminals are creating fake profiles of prominent figures within our company and reaching out to good, unsuspecting people with the intent to scam them. It’s important for you to be able to tell the difference between the real PCH on Facebook and imposters.

So here’s the first thing you should know:
What are Publishers Clearing House’s official Fan Pages on Facebook that our fans can connect with and enjoy?

Here’s a complete list:
Publishers Clearing House
PCHSearchAndWin
PCHgames
PCHlotto
PCHtips
Candystand.com
PCH Prize Patrol
Rest assured, you can safely follow Publishers Clearing House on all these pages! But remember: no one affiliated with our official PCH Fan Pages will ever send you a friend request or private message.  If you look closely at our legitimate pages, you will notice that they are Fan Pages for businesses and public figures. It’s impossible to send friend requests from this type of page.

If you DO receive a request from someone claiming to be from Publishers Clearing House, either an employee or from the Prize Patrol, you can be certain that it’s a fraudster who is trying to scam you or wrongfully obtain your personal information.

So what do you do if it happens to you?

Do not – I repeat DO NOT – add this person as a friend. Click “Not Now” on the request. Facebook will then ask you if you know this person outside of Facebook. Click “No” and the person will be blocked and unable to send you any additional friend requests.

If you have already accepted a friend request from a PCH Scammer, please cut and paste their information in the browser and send it to the administrator of one of our legitimate pages so we can report them to Facebook as well. After you’ve done that, block them right away.

We want to put a stop to PCH scammers fraudulently using our good name and the names of our real PCH employees on Facebook. Please remember that no one from Publishers Clearing House will ever send you a friend request. More importantly, the real PCH will never ask you to pay a cent to claim a prize!

I hope that the information above will help you be able to tell the difference between the real PCH on Facebook and pages created by PCH Facebook scammers. As always, let us know if you have any questions!

Stay safe fans!

Elaina R.
PCH Online Creative

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Comments

  1. I’ve been receiving phone calls from someone saying she’s Deborah Holland and that I have won $7,000 a week for life. They gave a claim number 35051 and that I should get in touch with Gary Barksdale in regards to this winnings.

    1. Hello Harvey, 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. Please be careful everyone; don’t become a scammer’s victim.

  2. Just got a call from Andrew Goldberg 🙄 we won 15.5 million and $10,000 weekly for life as well as a brand new Mercedes-Benz (he even let us pick the color!). All we had to do is got to Walmart and purchase a visa vanilla gift card in the amount of $500. Then call him back so the 10,000 could be loaded on it weekly. He of course got angry when I called him out for being a scammer 🤣.

    1. Hi Alexia! Unfortunately what you’re describing is a common scam. We’re so glad you knew that wasn’t the real PCH! Please report them 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://info.pch.com/fraud-protection. Stay safe!

  3. Got a text on messenger from a Michael J$$$, saying I won $1,000,000.00 for life, and a Judy D$$$$ added a Ford to truck. Judy claims to be Danielle Lam, my new claiming agent.

    1. Hi Robert! I’m sorry to tell you that those were scammers, not the real PCH. It’s important to remember that PCH does not contact winners of a major prize via phone, text, email, mail, or on Social Media. Also, if anyone asks you for money for any reason to claim a prize, you can be sure they’re a scammer. Please don’t give them any money, or any personal information! Scammers are very sneaky and will use our good name and reputation to try to deceive people. Stopping them is a team effort so please report any and all scam contacts you receive to PCH at this link: http://bit.ly/Report-Scam-To-PCH. We provide numerous videos, blogs, and tips to recognize these scammers here: https://info.pch.com/fraud-protection-2/. Stay safe!

  4. My husband, Chester and I received 3 phone calls from Dave Sayer claiming that we won a prize. The email went to my SPAM folder and claimed I won a prize from PCH and to download the info to see what I won. It is all a scam. SPAM means SCAM.

    1. Hi Amy! 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

  5. I received this email today from the following email..okaforfrancisca979@gmail.com.

    They wanted me to reply to this email..pchous48@aol.com

    Dear PCH Customer,

    Good day to you I Andrew Goldberg the chairman president &CEO of PCH
    have wish to inform you that you have won Eight Hundred and Fifty
    Thousand USD in Our PCH (email)
    Winning draws please reply back Pchclaimdept for collection.
    _____________________________
    Publishers Clearing House
    Lottery Agent
    51st St, New York, NY 10022 USA.
    _________________________and you need to provide your real information
    like your email address, phone number, and your home address e.t.c

    Just advising that it is scammers

  6. I received a fraudulent check from publishers clearing house in the mail and said it was sponsored by State Farm auto insurance I want to report this as fraudulent activity

    1. Hi Teresa! We’d be happy to assist you with this but we’re going to need a little more information. Please reach out to our Customer Service team. Our representatives are here to assist you Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. & Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time by calling our toll free number at 1-800-459-4724. Let us know if you need anything else!