Hyphenet's IT Blog: Publishers Clearing House Scam Alert

Everyone wants to win the lottery! There’s a dream within all of us that wins a ginormous amount of money or a major sweepstakes.

Sometimes people get too caught up in the idea of becoming a millionaire and lose touch with reality.

There’s something about the chance of winning something great that gets us to fantasize the possibility of it really happening.

This is an avenue that con artists take advantage of.

Often, Publishers Clearing House, a legitimate business, is used as bait.

The multi-million dollar giveaway from Publishers Clearing House are among the highest paying sweepstakes that receives millions of entries weekly.

So how do you know if you are entering into a legitimate sweepstakes or a scam?

If you receive an email, telephone call, or bulk mail letter saying that you’ve won a big prize, it’s a scam. If you actually won anything from PCH, you would receive a certified or express letter or get an in person visit!
Receiving a check does not mean it’s a valid. It’s nothing more than a piece of paper.
Never trust anyone asking you to send them money. PCH will not ask you to send them money in order to receive money.

Here are a few emails received from the fake PCH:

“I just received a notice in the mail supposedly from Publishers Clearing House. They are saying that I have won a sweepstakes. Is this real?”
“I received a win letter along with a check from Publishers Clearing House to cover expenses. Did I really win?”
“Publishers Clearing House keeps calling and saying I’ve won $100,000,000. They say I have to pay 1% in taxes before they release the prize. What should I do?”

You can go directly to the site to get more tips from PCH.com here.
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References:
Lawrence, Shelby
Publishers Clearing House Scam Alert – ArkLaTex
http://www.arklatexhomepage.com/story/d/story/publishers-clearing-house-scam…