Do You Have to Pay Money To Claim A Prize From PCH?

No! The REAL Publishers Clearing House wants you to know that you NEVER have to pay or send money to claim a prize from Publishers Clearing House! So PLEASE, beware of scams asking you to do so!

Greetings, fans and friends,

We at Publishers Clearing House can’t say it enough: There are scammers out there whose only goal is to prey on decent, hardworking people like you by masquerading as Publishers Clearing House, the PCH Prize Patrol, or employees of PCH.

And as always, Publishers Clearing House would like to remind you to beware of ALL scams that ask you to send money in order to claim a prize award!

My own mother, age 87, was a victim of a scam just this month! She was phoned three times by people claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service, saying that she had not filed her taxes (not true!), and if she did not send them approximately $5,000, or give them her credit card number, they would take her house and car away! Good thing my mother is a smart lady who knows better than to listen to these awful scammers, but she sure was shaken up and was afraid to answer her phone for several days afterwards!

As in my mother’s situation, many scammers will ask you to send or wire money or purchase a prepaid card in order to “seal the deal.” In the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes, the winning is always FREE! So, if you are being asked to send some sort of payment in order to claim a “prize award,” and you are wondering “do you have to pay money to claim a prize from Publishers Clearing House?” remember that the answer is NO! And if you are being asked to send or wire money, you have not heard from the real PCH!

We also want to remind you about “Fake Check” scams. In these types of scams, you might receive a real-looking check in the mail accompanied by an “official-looking” letter. You then might be asked to wire back a portion of the check – which the scammers might tell you is your “entry fee” or your “taxes.” Once again, this is a scam and the check is fake, so don’t believe it for a moment!

Unfortunately, some of our blog readers have succumbed to Green Dot Money Pak scams. A scammer might phone you and claim that you’ve won a prize from Publishers Clearing House, but in order to claim the prize you must purchase a pre-paid Green Dot Money Pak card. These cards can be accessed remotely using the card numbers (which the scammers will ask you to provide), so don’t fall for this! Once the scammer – who could possibly be calling from a foreign country – has your money, you will never see it again!

At Publishers Clearing House, we have a number of consumer protection programs in place to keep you, or loyal fans and friends, safe and secure. These include:

• Our valuable Fraud Protection Page at PCH.com
• Our Scam Prevention tab on Facebook
• Recorded anti-scam messages on our toll-free customer service lines
• Frequent scam alerts on our blogs
• PCH’s membership in the National Consumers League Allegiance Against Fraud
• Partnership with law enforcement officials including the FBI, Postal Inspection Service, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Federal Trade Commission

If you believe you have received a suspicious letter, phone call, Facebook or Instagram message, Tweet, or email from a scammer claiming to be from Publishers Clearing House, please report it using our Scam Incident Report.

As always, stay educated … stay protected … and STAY SAFE!

Debbie K.
PCH Creative

P.S. Have you ever been scammed? What advice would you give your fellow blog readers on how to stay safe? Comment below!