Scam letter claims you won Publishers Clearing House prize

Table Of Content

• Alabama man wins $1 million Publisher’s Clearing House sweepstakes — but wasn’t home to collect check
• Random Drawing
• Has Publishers Clearing House Had Winners From Your State? The Answer Is YES!
• FTC implements new rules to prevent imposter scams
• At Publishers Clearing House our prize winner selection process is random and unbiased.

That letter even included his name, as schemers often use the names of real PCH employees to make their messages sound more legitimate. The folks at PCH headquarters in New York were more than happy to see a recent story in which the Problem Solvers warned how easy it is to fall victim. We update our Winners Circle regularly; more and more winners are added every day!

Alabama man wins $1 million Publisher’s Clearing House sweepstakes — but wasn’t home to collect check

Winners are notified to fill out an online prize claim form to claim their winnings. To claim your instant win prize, you must complete the claim form within 30 minutes. PCH, known for its prize patrols and oversized checks, said in a state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filing that nearly half of the 393 workers at its 300 Jericho Quadrangle headquarters would be let go from July 19, 2024, to Feb. 28, 2025. The company said the layoffs are due to the “winddown and eventual closure” of its commerce line of business. Entries received promptly within the first processing periods will be eligible for random winner selection.

Random Drawing

The victim is instructed to deposit the check in their account and immediately return most of it to the claims manager to cover taxes and fees. The scam claiming you've won a lot of money is not a new one, but it has evolved to levels that still have viewers wondering if it's real. You get a letter telling you that you just won millions of dollars, along with a large check to help you pay taxes and fees. An Alabama man was declared the lucky $1 million winner of the classic Publisher’s Clearing House sweepstakes — but he almost missed out on the prize when he wasn’t home to accept the check.

Has Publishers Clearing House Had Winners From Your State? The Answer Is YES!

Now, the victim is responsible for the thousands of dollars they sent away. The letter also includes a check for $9,800 and instructions to call a claims manager at the provided phone number before depositing the check. At PCH there are many prize winning opportunities — and many ways we go about selecting our Winners. Howie Guja, of the marketing company’s prize team, traveled all the way from the Big Apple to Albertville to hand-deliver Edwin Walker his six-figure award. Stay in the know on jobs, retail and all things business across Long Island. “I just wanted to let you know that and if you could report it, that they are scamming people," Tayna said.

Publishers Clearing House Refunds - Federal Trade Commission News

Publishers Clearing House Refunds.

Posted: Thu, 06 Jul 2023 15:21:08 GMT [source]

WARN, the state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, requires that companies with 50 full-time employees or more file a notice of a mass layoff or a closing 90 days in advance. The We’Re Group received a 20-year deal on property taxes, in addition to a sales tax exemption of up to $1.4 million for construction materials and equipment to upgrade 300 Jericho Quadrangle. Publishers also received a sales tax exemption of up to $1.6 million on its purchases of equipment for the site. Publishers Clearing House, the Jericho-based sweepstakes and magazine subscription company, plans to lay off 156 workers at its headquarters starting in July, according to a state filing. So, PCH and the Federal Trade Commission try to educate folks about sweepstake scams that devastate the lives of victims.If you hear from scammers or fall victim, PCH said to contact them and local law enforcement.

Scam letter claims you won $2.5M prize from Publishers Clearing House

Entries are divided by region or geographic location and for each such region a winner will be randomly selected. Tanya’s brother was told the money was needed to pay to have the prize delivered and to pay taxes. Her brother sent a gift card to scammers who claimed he won the PCH million-dollar sweepstakes. For complete information about how a winner is selected, the odds of winning and any restrictions or limitations, review the Official Rules of any sweepstakes you are considering entering.

Publishers Clearing House Scams: How You Can Avoid Them - GOBankingRates

Publishers Clearing House Scams: How You Can Avoid Them.

Posted: Tue, 10 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

In a random drawing, a winner is randomly selected from all eligible entries. Random drawings are typically conducted at PCH when a matching winning number is not returned or to award small prizes. In automated drawings, the computer randomly selects a winner from among all eligible entries. In a manual drawing, eligible entries are numbered sequentially and a random number generator program is used to randomly select a winning sequence number. Live-play entries are selected at random throughout our digital game network and prizes are awarded instantly.

In a statement, Sheldon L. Shrenkel, chief executive and executive director of the Nassau County IDA, said the agency was aware of Publishers’ state layoff filing and was working with the company to address its job commitments. Publishers said the layoffs will not impact its sweepstakes, which have given out $593 million in prizes over the years. That can help them hunt the scammers down and prosecute them, although it’s difficult to do. Her brother was about to send more gift cards before she caught on to what was going on and quickly stopped him before he lost hundreds, even thousands of dollars more. “They’re calling, scamming,” Tanya from Tulsa told 2 News in that recent story. In the case of that woman from Michigan - and most of these scams - it's likely authorities will never be able to track down that money.

Weisman said the scammer on the line claimed to be an official from the Federal Trade Commission, handling the distribution of funds for Publishers Clearing House. “So many people enter the Publishers Clearing House lottery that you may get a call from them and trust it,” said Weisman. Protect yourself from this scam by remembering you never have to pay money to get money you have supposedly won.

Weisman said that’s why it's so important not to let your emotions get the best of you if someone tells you you've won a prize. She got a phone call that appeared to be coming from Publishers Clearing House, and once again as we've often said, these scammers are able to spoof a number,” explained Weisman. When he came back from a delivery, he received the life-changing news surrounded by family members.

Prize checks are sent via First Class U.S. Mail for prizes under $600 and via overnight mail (or UPS) for prizes of $600 and above. Prizes of $10,000 and above may be awarded either by overnight mail (or UPS) or in person by the PCH Prize Patrol, depending on location and availability of the Prize Patrol. To date, Publishers and its landlord have received more than $4.6 million in property tax breaks, according to figures from the New York State Authorities Budget Office. The hype and the hope of hitting the jackpot, winning all that life-changing cash from Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes, can lead to PCH imposters stealing victims’ life savings. Weisman said if you did win something, lottery organizers would simply take that money out of the final prize payout.