As you know, PCH gives away much more than our big millionaire-making SuperPrizes! That’s right, we award lots of smaller cash prizes each and every day to lucky winners across the country, and the number keeps on growing!
Even though we award our SuperPrize winners live and IN PERSON – not over the phone or via email or social media – for the most part, some smaller PCH prize checks are sometimes sent via overnight delivery service using UPS and Fed-Ex – as well as standard U.S. Postal delivery service. So it’s not surprising that one of our blog readers commented the other day and said: I received a check from PCH. Is it real?
Know How To Recognize The Real Deal!
Yes, it’s only natural to be somewhat skeptical when you receive a check from PCH. Especially when there are people out there waiting to take advantage of those unsuspecting consumers. Our goal is to prepare you so that you may recognize and avoid sweepstakes scams at all cost! And the number one way to know the difference between a REAL PCH prize check and a FAKE PCH prize check is this ….
Warning Sign: You Are Told You Need To Send Money To Claim Your Prize Money!
At PCH the winning is always FREE, so we would never request payment of any kind! Remember: You NEVER have to pay to win a PCH prize. The REAL Publishers Clearing House awards YOU the money, no strings attached. We would NEVER ask you to pay some kind of fee or tax in order to claim a prize, whether through the mail, email, telephone, or any other kind of communication.
And you can take that to the bank!
Jane M.
PCH Creative
P.S. We’re counting down to the entry deadline for our incredible $5,000.00 A Week Forever Prize, guaranteed to be awarded on February 28th. That’s $5,000.00 A Week for the life of the winner and then after that – for the life of someone they choose! Be sure to enter by Feb. 25th for your chance to win!
I have been playing for over seven years, so far I have won three times. Twice two $10 dollar checks and just recently a check for $5 dollars. It barely covered all of the stamps that I put on envelopes trying to win, but someone wins big. I may have to live longer.
I didn’t get my money.
My name is Jesse and I am being defrauded. I am the sweeps winner.
Hello Jesse, 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 sent a letter and a check for $8,900.55. It said that my entry in this sweepstakes/lottery was based on cross-promotion by marketing companies through credit card expenditures, past subscriptions and in-store relates in North America. They also gave me a claims age t to talk to about method of payment for y payout. Is this for real?
I’ve now “won” four times, and twice checks were attached to letters (the first two were phone calls). I hope others being scammed are as cynical as I am and didn’t fall for any of them. Although they are very official looking, and we really, really want to win that money, it kind of hurts to just ignore these fantastic wins.
Hello Kaye, 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 o you sign up for the $5,000.00 a week contest?
Can’t wait to get a prize from PCH and this would be the right mom………….
I’ve received two checks for $5.00 but can’t seem to track them when logged into my pch account. How do I know they are not a scam.
Hello Anna, Thank you for contacting PCH. In order for us to assist you with your question we will need a bit more information. We kindly ask that you contact us at your convenience. Our customer service representatives may be reached at http://bit.ly/ContactPCH. We look forward to hearing from you.
Got a check for $5.00 is this a scam. So many scams these days.
Hello Michael, 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 a $9,000 check today and was told to call a number listed to begin claiming the $500,000 prize. I didn’t give out any personal information. They asked me to deposit the check and that it will be used to pay fees. Letter looks very official. I didn’t deposit the check. The guy on the phone was very suspicious sounding and couldn’t answer basic questions. Glad I Googled it to be sure! Just wanted to report it here.
Hi Frank! 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 received a check also for a little over $9000 asking me to call a number. I haven’t called the number the check looks extremely real looks like a normal check. Just wondering if it’s fraudulent. Assuming it probably is.
Hi Nora, We’re so glad that you knew that wasn’t the real PCH. As you know, the Prize Patrol 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. Stay safe and protect yourselves from becoming scam victims!!