It’s a story I see all too often when interacting with PCH fans in the social space. A fan will leave a comment on our Official PCH Fan Page on Facebook and less than 5 minutes later, they will get a friend request from a scammer claiming to be a PCH employee. Generally, these scammers pass themselves off as Dave, Todd, or Danielle with the intention of tricking our fans into believing they’ve won. I could go more in depth with the explanation, but here’s a video that covers how the scammers target PCH fans on Facebook.
[tube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcIammMzrbY[/tube]
Over the past few months, our Community Managers have noticed a pattern. A fan usually receives “friend request” shortly after leaving a comment. Generally scammers watch the PCH page closely and contact the first person they see that’s left a comment. We’ve heard from fans that this often makes them uneasy and many times, annoyed. Some of our fans have told us that they will sometimes accept the friend request just to be able to say “GOTCHA!” to the scammer and let them know they’re on to their game, although we highly advise against this.
Our Consumer Affairs department works closely with Facebook and local authorities to help identify and try to catch these PCH scammers, by sharing data reported to our Fraud Division. Unfortunately, though, this is a process that takes time, and we can’t stop them straight off the bat. But there is something you can do to protect yourselves – and it’s much easier than you think.
PREVENT FRIEND REQUESTS FROM SCAMMERS!
Facebook privacy settings allow you to limit the amount of contact that strangers have with you on Facebook. This means that if you leave a comment on a PCH post and a scammer clicks on your name, they will not be able to send you a private message or even send you a friend request. Here’s how to check your privacy settings on Facebook.
How To Check Your Facebook Privacy Settings
1. Log into Facebook from your desktop computer.
2. On the top right hand side of the page click the small icon that looks like a padlock. These are your privacy settings.
3. Click on “Who Can Contact Me.”
4. Look at the settings beneath the question “Whose Messages Do I Want Filtered Into My Inbox?” Selecting “Strict Filtering” will make it more difficult for scammers to chat with you.
5. Then look at the settings beneath the question “Who Can Send Me Friend Requests” and make sure that it is set to “Friends of Friends.” Leaving it set to “Everyone” may be a personal preference, but keep in mind that scammers can then send you friend requests.
So please, consider taking these steps to help prevent friend requests from PCH scammers. Interacting with us should be a fun experience for all of our fans, but most importantly we want to make sure you stay safe! Don’t let PCH scammers ruin the fun!
Stay safe everyone,
Sarah S.
Social Media
Other blogs you may like:
Advice from a Real PCH Fan: Beware of Scams on Facebook!
Ok – someone that I was already friends with on Facebook sent me a private message this evening saying she’d won $300K that she had seen my name on the winners list? Her name is Tina. Then she sent me a profile of a Paul who proceeded to tell me he would check – then he wrote back with this $ list and saying I would receive whatever amount of $ I pick with an UPFRONT FEE OF THOUSANDS OF $?!?!! Nope I’m not paying to “win a sweepstakes”
this was part of the message from Paul.
You Choose $50,000 You Pay $1,000
You Choose $100,000 You Pay $1,500
You Choose $150,000 You Pay $2,000
You Choose $200,000 You Pay $2,500
You Choose $250,000 You Pay $3,000
You Choose $300,000 You Pay $3,500
You Choose $350,000 You Pay $4,000
You Choose $400,000 You Pay $4,500
You Choose $450,000 You Pay $5,000
You Choose $500,000 You Pay $5,500
Choose wisely.
Then this is from Tina telling me it’s real.
“I’m telling you the truth now as a dedicated Christian is against my doctrine to rip people off their money which they labored so hard for. In this life what goes around comes around which is what will happen to me if I rip off your money, believe me I will not want such thing to happen to me or my family. So I don’t have any reason to lie to you knowing the consequences involved in it.”
I quit corresponding with her.
Hello Kat, We certainly take the issue of scams and the illegal use of our name by scammers very seriously; that’s why we regularly educate our fans on what they can do to protect themselves. If you haven’t already done so, please report that scam contact to us via the following link: http://bit.ly/Report-Scam-To-PCH. I encourage you to read these Safety Tips too: https://bit.ly/FraudProtection2. Please be careful everyone; don’t become a scammer’s victim!
This is from my comment. Jacqueline W$$$$$$$ you are a winner, you could call this number for further information… $$$ $$$ $$$$, from an Earl J.
Hi Jacqueline, that’s definitely a scammer. 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!
Today I received messages from Danielle and I cannot remember. I will look and try to find my way back to here.
Hi Beverly! That is a scammer posing as Danielle. The real Danielle doesn’t privately contact winners via Facebook or any other means, and you never need to pay to claim a PCH prize. Do not give the scammer ANY of your personal information. Please report this scam to us by completing a scam incident report. Click this link to find out how: https://bit.ly/Report-Scam-To-PCH. Check out our Fraud Protection site to see how to stay safe: https://info.pch.com/fraud-protection-2/. Take care!
Thank you for this information. I’m going to go and change my settings right now. We did get scammed yesterday, and at first we thought it was PCH, but after the phone conversation, we knew it wasn’t. So we told them we knew they were trying to scam us and they would be reported. Yes, you have to be very careful because someone is waiting at every turn to cheat you. Thank you for your help.
Hi Barb! The real PCH doesn’t notify our major prize winners via phone, standard mail, email, or social media, and we never ask for money to claim a prize. Please report any details you have about that scam contact to us at this link: http://bit.ly/Report-Scam-To-PCH. I also encourage you to check out these Safety Tips for some great info on what to watch for: https://bit.ly/FraudProtection2. Stay safe everyone!!
I have been contacted by a lady, and she even sent me her photo ID from PCH, asking me if I wanted to be a winner. How weird is that?
Hi Linda! I’m sorry to tell you that was a scammer, 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!
Hi Linda! The real PCH doesn’t notify our major prize winners via phone, standard mail, email, or social media, and we never ask for money to claim a prize. Please report any details you have about that scam contact to us at this link: http://bit.ly/Report-Scam-To-PCH. I also encourage you to check out these Safety Tips for some great info on what to watch for: https://bit.ly/FraudProtection2. Stay safe everyone!!
facebook.com/profile.$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ claimed I had won $25,000. They tried to get me to send money via PayPal using a Gmail account. $50.
Hi Bob! That is definitely a scam. Please report using this link: http://bit.ly/Report-Scam-To-PCH. I also encourage you to check out these Safety Tips for some great info on what to watch for: https://bit.ly/FraudProtection2. Stay safe everyone!!
I had some guy sending me pictures of cars saying they are mine. He said I won them and money but I had to pay $500.00 for me to get the stuff. I knew better.
Hello Dorothy, The real PCH doesn’t notify our major prize winners via phone, standard mail, email, or social media, and we never ask for money to claim a prize. Please report any details you have about that scam contact to us at this link: http://bit.ly/Report-Scam-To-PCH. I also encourage you to check out these Safety Tips for some great info on what to watch for: https://bit.ly/FraudProtection2. Stay safe everyone!!
I had a guy call me this morning saying I won 9.5 million dollars and a white Mercedes Benz and he will deliver it this morning if I go to Walmart or CVS or Walgreens and buy a Vanilla Gift Card and the winning number is the gift card. But I would have to purchase it for $255.00 first before I can get the prizes and I said well I never heard of anyone putting money upfront to win PCH. He said you’re not putting any money upfront, you’re just buying the gift card and sending me the information as the winning numbers. That was yesterday, then he called me back this morning to ask me, did I come up with the money or close to at least $150.00. I said no, all I have is a dollar and he said well how do you live you are so broke? You’re just a broke person, well just try again next time and hung up. So I looked up PCH and it said you never have to put money upfront or go buy anything I started to call the man back and tell him you are a scammer and not real but I decided to write a claim and show his phone number $$$ $$$-$$$$ out of Colorado.
Hello Patricia! That is not the real PCH calling you; it’s a scammer that’s only pretending to be from PCH. Please do not call that number, do not give the scammer any personal info including bank account information, and definitely do not send them any money if they ask. If you haven’t already done so, please report that scam contact to us via the following link: http://bit.ly/Report-Scam-To-PCH. I encourage you to read these Safety Tips too: https://bit.ly/FraudProtection2. Please be careful everyone; don’t become a scammer’s victim!
Do you have an employee name John Mason he is trying now to award me a prize and I’m skeptical. He asked for I.R.S. payment of 500.
Hello Justin! That is definitely a scammer who contacted you. The real PCH doesn’t notify our major prize winners via phone, standard mail, email, or social media, and we never ask for money to claim a prize. Please report any details you have about that scam contact to us at this link: http://bit.ly/Report-Scam-To-PCH. I also encourage you to check out these Safety Tips for some great info on what to watch for: https://bit.ly/FraudProtection2. Stay safe everyone!!
This one had my personal phone number, John Willis. As I speak, it’s been 10 minutes since his last call. Blowing up my phone for 500.00. I’m a senior citizen. This person whomever he really is will surely get his just due someday. Don’t ever send money to anyone you don’t know!
Hello Jana! You are definitely describing a scam. PCH 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