Greetings, fans and friends!
Do you have to pay to claim a PCH prize? If you’ve won a Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes, is there a fee in order to receive your winnings?
The answer is absolutely NOT. Not only are PCH sweepstakes and giveaways always FREE to enter, you never have to pay a penny to claim a PCH prize – of any amount – EVER!
In fact, if anyone tells you – either by phone; email; or social media like Facebook or Twitter or Instagram; that you’ve won a PCH prize and you must make some sort of payment in order to claim it, THIS IS A SCAM!
Paying to Claim a Prize? That’s a PCH Scam!
Let’s break it down here:
- Publishers Clearing House would never ask you to pay to claim a prize of any amount.
- Publishers Clearing House would never call winners in advance, would never send you a Facebook friend request, and would never engage in any other type of social media conversation with you!
- For major prizes, the PCH Prize Patrol will deliver your prize check to you in person – along with balloons, champagne and roses.
- If you are asked to send cash or a check … or purchase a Green Dot MoneyPak prepaid card or any other cash card – DON’T DO IT! The scammer will ask for the numbers located on the back of the card. Once they have this information they are able to access the money quickly. And once the money is gone, it’s gone forever.
There are NEVER any fees to claiming a prize!
If there’s one thing to remember here, fans and friends, it’s that if you become a PCH prize winner, we pay YOU! You NEVER have to pay us.
At Publishers Clearing House the winning is ALWAYS FREE, and there are NEVER any fees to claiming a prize! If someone tells you that you’ve won a prize, but that in order to claim it you need to give them money for any reason – STOP – it’s a SCAM!
I hope I’ve made this all perfectly clear. At PCH, we love to make entering enjoyable and exciting, we love to award prizes and we love to make dreams come true!
If you believe you’ve been contacted by a scammer, please fill out our Scam Incident Report right away!
Stay safe … and have fun!
Debbie K.
PCH Creative
P.S. If you’ve learned one important lesson from this blog, what is it? Please comment below!
Other blogs you may like:
Beware of PCH Scams on Facebook and Instagram
I received a phone call from a Kansas number with a recorded message saying I won money and a car. They gave me a claim number of 9901 . Sounded kinda hokey to me.
Hi Jackie! 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!
I was contacted yesterday by a scammer from a new york lottery, phone number $$$ $$$-$$$$, claiming I win 2,500,000 and a Mercedes benz, and the claim # is $$$$$ pch but at the end of the voice mail it said to have the fees to pay to claim.
Hi Judy! 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!
Just been contacted by a scammer
Hi Jonathon! 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.
I was contacted by a Todd Solan, he told me I had won money,I needed to buy a $ 300. card for a
registration card, before they could give me the check. I’m not doing it. He also gave me an employ
number.
Hello Mae, 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!!
Yes I been contacted by 2 scammers in 3 weeks claiming thier from p.c.h. and need 500 dollars in order to get my million dollar prize. I hung up on both of them because I know p.c.h. never asks for money.
Hello Frank, I am really happy that you knew that it was not the real PCH who contacted you! 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!
I just received a message that I won they. said. I might have to. pay a fee not doing that. Just hope people know that this how PCH works for prize winners.
Hi Barbara! Please be careful, that’s a scammer. 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 know I’ve been scammed and thank god it only cost me $600 in fact after I called her out she sent another email saying they will do what’s right and get the winnings in my bank account. Like that will ever happen
Hello Woody, that is definitely a scammer 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
There is a processing fee?when receiving large amounts money.??I’m told I pay processing fee.ups or fed ex does deliver..???text from Danielle pch with name tag..i sent it to CEO..
Hi Janet! 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.
How do I pay you
Hi Auronda! 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 was on FB today and they tried to get money out of me because they said I win and I check this site while we were talking, thank you for having this site,
Hello Clark, that is definitely a scammer who contacted you! PCH will never send friend requests, private messages, or winner notifications via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc; we also never ask for money to claim a prize. Do not give this person any personal information and certainly do not send them any money!! Instead, report them to PCH by completing a Scam Incident Report. Here’s how: http://bit.ly/Report-Scam-To-PCH. Check out this FAQ for info on how to stop scammers from contacting you on Facebook: http://bit.ly/StopFBScammers. Please be careful everyone; don’t become a scammer’s victim!
Today I got 2 messages on my home phone claiming it was Dave Sayers from PCH & Publishers Clearing House. They left a a phone number and a special code, in one message. Out of curiosity I called back but as much as I would have liked to have been the winner of 8.5 million dollars, I was not. I tried to find out what their scam was without revealing my personal info. They did have a lot of my info, but the stuff that’s already available on the internet. He asked for my email and when I refused to give it, then he said that he had it but what he said was my email was not correct. There were other red flags, But this is the main gist of the phone call. DON’T BE FOOLED.
Hi Eleanor, we’re sorry to hear the scammers have contacted you. We would like to remind everyone that you never have to pay to claim a PCH prize. PCH do NOT contact winners of a major prize via phone, text, email, mail, or on Social Media. Please report all scammers to us by completing a scam incident report: https://bit.ly/Report-Scam-To-PCH. We provide numerous videos, blogs, and tips to help protect yourself and you can check it out here: https://info.pch.com/fraud-protection-2/. Please stay safe!