PCH Fans,
Picture this… it’s an ordinary day and as you go about your daily activities you are suddenly interrupted by a phone call, letter, email, Facebook message or some other type of notification advising that you are a big Publishers Clearing House winner.
You get so excited you almost drop everything you are holding to jump in the air and begin yelling with excitement. That is of course until you remember that there are two very important things missing — the PCH Prize Patrol AND the Big Check! Yes friends, the alarms should be sounding right about now. THIS IS A SCAM!
Here at PCH we do our best to alert consumers about the latest scams. Since we love making dreams come true with our exciting sweepstakes, we hate nothing more than to learn of fraudulent scammers contacting our loyal fans in their attempts to illegally obtain money and personal information.
So, what should you or your friends and family do if you suspect that you are being scammed? Well, the first thing is to never give out personal information or send money to the scammers! The second thing is make sure you report the scam right away using our super helpful scam form!
Remember – stay educated and know the signs of a PCH scam! At Publishers Clearing House we NEVER contact our winners in advance. It’s ALWAYS a surprise. To identify a scam, you should look for the following signs:
- You were messaged on social media
- You received a phone call telling you that you are a major prize winner at PCH.
- You were asked to send a money card, cash, or provide the scammers with bank/personal information to claim your prize.
These are just some of the signs to watch out for. Unfortunately, it can happen to anyone. As a matter of fact, my own father AND one of my best friends were both contacted by PCH scammers!
I hope you found this information super-helpful. Please stay alert and make sure you always report any Publishers Clearing House scam you received. The more we know about these scammers, the better we can protect our loyal fans just like you!
Stay Alert!
Victoria P.
PCH Creative
I was contacted by a Tony Goodman 920-###-####. And said I won 4 Million grand prize, and a car. He said he has worked for Publishers Clearance House for 16 years as a prize distribution manager. And wanted to know if I could take a break from work and set up a time for my prize to be delivered I said I was googling his name to make sure it was real and he hung up I called the # back and he answered PCH prize distribution Tony Goodman here
Hi Sherry, 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 contacted by phone (###-###-5544) from a Peter Anderson from PCH saying I won $150,000 in cash and a certified check for $7,500,000. He wanted me to go to Walgreens and get a gift card for $500 and then call him back when I get it. He also said he was already in Melrose.
I always enter PCH contests, but I was suspicious, so I contacted the police who said it was a scam. Now I’m frighten that they will come to my house. How did they know i was a PCH customer? Thank you.
Hi Lorraine, always remember that 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!!
Recently scamming on instagram. Contacted in this past month three separate times.. All saying won $2 million and all wanting currier fees. 🙄 I knew not give out info but seriously shame on them!
Hi Donna, I’m sorry to hear the scammers have been bothering you. It’s important for everyone to remember that 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 them 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!
I got a long call from ? saying you won and they said we will be coming to your house etc. never asked a darn thing… ended with congratulations. what is the point of it?
Most likely, they’re setting you up for another phase of a scam. E.g. calling back and saying there’s a problem with coming out to you, but they’ll get you your winnings after you pay a fee or something similar to that.
A got contacted by Mark William David he got 300.00 from me
Hello Karen, 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!!
Received call today from (caller ID says Kingston JM) saying I won $2.5 Million and a Mercedez Benz E-class auto; Plus Bonus of $5000.00 per week for life given to me by comedian Steve Harvey.
6-digit confirmation # 252373AE. He requested I call back to phone no. 516-789-3863 to further claim my prize.
Before I called back, I looked up the phone number on the internet and found this site, and the rest is history- no bumbling fool here would call back without first doing a little homework .
Thanks for this site, where we get the real skinny on what constitutes a PCH win: the PCH Prize Patrol and the BIG CHECK. Thanks again, you lovely folks.
Hello Milli, 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!!
A scammer call me yesterday. He said his name is David Norman from the Publishers Clearing House. He had me go to CVS yesterday to get a prepaid card. He wanted me to get a Visa prepaid card oh, I accidentally got a prepaid Green Dot. Which was good for me cuz he can’t get the money off the card not without me authorizing it which I have not done yet. The phone he’s calling me from is one 646-685-4989. Also 1 6 4 6 8 8 9 9 6 7 8 most likely those numbers are probably from a cell phone a burnable one I don’t know. I wish I read your scam article sooner but I’m Wiser now. They have no idea what they do to people that really need that money. They should be ashamed of themselves
Hello Ann, 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 just contacted by a scammed claiming to be from PCH, he gave me his badge number 5051USA. Said I eon 2.5 million dollars and a 2022, Mercedes Benz, asked if I wanted a red or blue. He gave me my prize confirmation # 611507, 10 digit bat code # and winning docket number. He also stated I needed to send 500 dollars for taxes, when I told him I didn’t have it, he decreased it to $25.00. I know this is a scam, and I know John Peter isn’t real. They also gave me a return number to call, when I’m able to get the $25.00. I have no intention on calling him back. This happened to me 2 years ago and I didn’t fall for it then.
Hello Brittany, 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
I was just called by a scammer, I think. I don’t have a working email address, so I am unable to get answers. Just wanted to let you know that it was from Linda Taylor. She said that I would be getting them here in 1-3 days. I told her what I knew about PCH and she really didn’t say much. She did say for me to settlr down, cause by this time I was superly pissed. I just said the same thing to her again and she said that I didn’t understand and that there was no money involved when it came to the check and the 5000 a week prize. I t was just for the cars we were gonna get. Kept going for a long time. I finally told him to call me back. So we’ll see what happens.
Hello Shari, 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!
Contacted by PCH scammer saying I won 1.1 million dollars. First David Goodman but I could not understand his accent so he transferred me to someone else They both gave me different information and when he said I acted like it was a joke and I told him I really didn’t know he hung up on me.
Hello Charlotte, we’re so glad that you knew that wasn’t the real PCH. PCH will never ask for money to claim a prize. We also don’t notify winners via social media, standard mail, email, or phone. Please report any details you have about this scammer to PCH here: http://bit.ly/Report-Scam-To-PCH. We encourage everyone to review the following Safety Tips to better protect themselves from being scammed: http://bit.ly/PCH-Safety-Tips. Stay safe!!