Scam Safety Tip: Friend Requests From The Prize Patrol

Last Updated: September 10, 2018

Greetings, fans and friends!

Let’s review the message in the image you see above – because it’s an important one:

If you receive a “ friend request ” from someone claiming to be a member of the Prize Patrol, Do Not Accept!

If you’re a frequent reader of the PCH Blog, you’ve seen posts offering warnings like this. Yet, many PCH fans still wonder whether the members of the Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol post friend requests on Facebook, and the answer is “NO.”

Unfortunately, there are scammers out there who say that they are Danielle Lam, Dave Sayer, Todd Sloane or Howie Guja, and will send a “friend request” on Facebook, often “stealing” photos of real Prize Patrol members to make their requests seem like the real thing. Usually, the scammer will send a message claiming that the recipient has won a prize and must pay some sort of fee to claim that prize.

These PCH impostor scams must absolutely be ignored! Please DO NOT accept a friend request from what may seem to be the PCH Prize Patrol … or from anyone else claiming to be an employee or representative of Publishers Clearing House!

Here are 5 very important things to know about PCH impostor scams:

  1. PCH has NEVER contacted – and will NEVER contact – ANYONE by sending a friend request or private message on Facebook. In addition, the Prize Patrol will NEVER contact winners on Instagram, Twitter or any other social media platform! We DO NOT use social media to contact winners in advance – EVER!
  2. At PCH, the winning is ALWAYS FREE! We will NEVER ask you to pay a fee, send a check or wire money in order to claim a prize of ANY AMOUNT!
  3. If you do win a major prize from Publishers Clearing House, the Prize Patrol will try their best to visit your home to deliver your prize – just like you see on TV – with champagne, roses, balloons and, of course, the Big Check! The PCH Prize Patrol will NOT call you, text you, or contact you on social media in advance of a big prize award. That would spoil the surprise! What’s more, should the Prize Patrol knock on your front door and you’re not home, don’t worry – they will make every effort to find you!
  4. Though the real PCH Prize Patrol never sends out friend requests, we at PCH still like to interact with our fans. So, when you follow us, whether it’s on our Prize Patrol fan page, or any of our other great PCH social media pages, be sure to ONLY interact with those that have the verified blue check mark!
  5. NEVER post your personal information online! We know that YOU want to win and that YOU want the Prize Patrol to find you; however, please do not post any personal information on the PCH Blog or on any of our social media sites because unscrupulous individuals can use that information to their advantage!

We cannot emphasize the importance of these scam safety tips – which is why we post information like this so often on the PCH Blog. I hope you’ll remember these crucial points – and if you believe you’ve been contacted by a scammer, please fill out our online Scam Incident Report without delay!

As always, stay safe and have fun!

Debbie K.
PCH Creative

P.S. Have you ever been contacted by a scammer pretending to be from PCH? Share your story in the comments below.