Greetings, fans and friends!
Today is Saturday, which means it’s time for the weekly “Danielle’s Desk” video on PCH’s Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter pages – where Danielle of the PCH Prize Patrol answers questions from our fans.
Today’s question on Danielle’s Desk is: I Was Asked to Pay a Fee to Claim My Prize. Was This PCH? Here’s Danielle with the answer:
That’s a really good question … and just to make sure all of our fans and friends know the answer, here are some of the key points that Danielle emphasizes in this video:
• The answer to the question I Was Asked to Pay a Fee to Claim My Prize. Was This PCH? Is NO.
• If you are contacted by someone claiming to be from Publishers Clearing House or claiming to be a PCH Employee who says that you won a prize but in order to claim it, you must …
• buy a gift card or a money order
• pay a shipping, handling or delivery fee
• prepay taxes
• pay a deposit
• give a credit card number, bank information or your personal information
• call a toll-free number
… that person is NOT affiliated with the real Publishers Clearing House.
At PCH, you will NEVER be asked to pay a fee to claim your prize! The winning is always 100% FREE and 100% FUN!
Now that you know that you will never be asked to pay a fee to claim a Publishers Clearing House prize, I hope you’ll steer clear of imposters pretending to be from PCH. In fact, the smart thing to do is report it to us right away by completing our online PCH Scam Incident Report. It’s fast and easy, and not only will it help us, it will help other fans and friends who might be contacted by imposters claiming to be from PCH.
If you’ve been contacted by someone asking you to pay a fee to claim a PCH prize, let us know in the comments below.
Stay safe, fans and friends, and stay in it to win it!
Debbie K.
PCH Creative
I’m being bombarded by PCH’s Danielle, Danielle tells me I have to pay for my winnings. Why can’t I win in peace?
Hi Norris! I’m sorry to tell you those are scammers, not the real Danielle Lam. 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! You can report them to us at this link: https://bit.ly/Report-Scam-To-PCH. We provide numerous videos, blogs, and tips to recognize these scammers here: https://info.pch.com/fraud-protection/. Stay safe!
I paid over $3,000.00 to Daniella to get my winnings, but never got them because I couldn’t pay her for gas. Really disappointed in Publishers Clearing House cuz It felt
like a scam.
Hi Cathy! I’m very sorry to tell you that was a scammer pretending to be Danielle, 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 more 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. Stay safe!
Some one called saying I won, but want me to send a gift card in order to get money from Florida. Also says he got a truck as a prize too… Is this real? His name is Mr. James $$$$$$$$$$$$.
Hi Kalvin! 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. Make sure to 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. Stay safe!
Debbie got ahold of me and asked me to pay for the courier delivery fee. So now what is the real way to collect?
That is not the real PCH calling you; 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 am asked to pay a activation fee to activate the data base for delivery of prize. The person is using your name.
Hi Joseph, we’re glad you could tell that wasn’t the real PCH. 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!
I was called and told that I won 2.5 million and a Mercedes Benz.
I am supposed to get 2 American Express Gift cards, $500 & $350.
These are for the people bringing the prizes.
The real problem is that I know that I didn’t enter with PCH.
Hi Sherrie, unfortunately you’re describing a common scam. 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! You can report them to us at this link: https://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!
I was told on google chat by name Danielle I had to pay 400 dollars to win a million dollars and ford truck. Is this a scam.
Hello Anthony, Please report all scam contacts to PCH via this link: http://bit.ly/Report-Scam-To-PCH.To stop scammers from contacting you on Facebook, check out this PCH Blog article: http://bit.ly/StopFBScammers. Thank you!!
Yuuup, as a matter of fact I was contacted around 6am by a woman who claimed to be an agent who informed me that I had won the online lottery with PCH. Contact was made via Instagram. Kelan Mary $$$$$ long story short she gave me an email account to contact dlam$$$$$$@$$$$$.com to verify winnings $1,000,000 an a brand new truck.
I was contacted by John B$$$$, he said I won $8.1 million and a 2023 Mercedes. But in order to deliver my prizes I need to purchase a $499 gift card. His phone number is $$$ $$$-$$$$, and my claim number is $$$$$$$$$$$$. When you call they answered PCH. I told him I’d call back later.
Hi Sheila! 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 again, do not give the scammer any personal info including bank account information, and definitely do not send them any money if they ask. 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 have been contacted by a John Sayer who told me I won $5000 in cash AND $3 MILL and AN ELECTIC FORD TRUCK. BUT, I MUST PAY $3000 TO HAVE the truck delivered. I told him that is not the way it works. He told me I would get it back. So I told him I can’t do it until Feb.
Hi Katherine! 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. Stay safe!