PCH Scam
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
For many years, we have all seen ads on television, or in magazines, for “Publishers Clearing House.”
When she was living, my mother-in-law used to fill out entry forms for the contest many times over the years. However, she never won.
On Monday, Nov. 30, 2015, my wife received a letter, allegedly from “PCH,” telling her that she had won $1,150,000 in the sweepstakes.
She did not get excited about this, due to a few factors. First, the envelope had a Washington state address (PCH headquarters is in New York State). Second, there were two separate telephone numbers in the letter; one of which had a Canadian area code.
There were one or two other unsavory factors concerning this matter; and in the end she reported the incident to the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office.
The AG’s assistant stated that there have been scams concerning PCH, as well as other sweepstakes, contests and such, which is what we figured to be the case.
I felt it necessary to let readers of this newspaper know about this.
My wife called the actual PCH headquarters in New York state, and the woman on the line told her that should someone win a prize from PCH, they will deliver said prize “in person,” not via U.S. mail or any other means.
If anyone receives such a notice claiming to be from “Publishers Clearinghouse,” be very aware, contact the proper authorities (including your state’s attorney general’s office), and perhaps such frauds and swindles can be avoided, before someone loses their hard earned savings.
Remember to watch out for your family members, neighbors and friends when it comes to crimes of all kind.
Illegal scams such as this can be stopped if we all just watch out for one another!
William Gerald Smith
Lancaster, Pa.[[In-content Ad]]
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For many years, we have all seen ads on television, or in magazines, for “Publishers Clearing House.”
When she was living, my mother-in-law used to fill out entry forms for the contest many times over the years. However, she never won.
On Monday, Nov. 30, 2015, my wife received a letter, allegedly from “PCH,” telling her that she had won $1,150,000 in the sweepstakes.
She did not get excited about this, due to a few factors. First, the envelope had a Washington state address (PCH headquarters is in New York State). Second, there were two separate telephone numbers in the letter; one of which had a Canadian area code.
There were one or two other unsavory factors concerning this matter; and in the end she reported the incident to the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office.
The AG’s assistant stated that there have been scams concerning PCH, as well as other sweepstakes, contests and such, which is what we figured to be the case.
I felt it necessary to let readers of this newspaper know about this.
My wife called the actual PCH headquarters in New York state, and the woman on the line told her that should someone win a prize from PCH, they will deliver said prize “in person,” not via U.S. mail or any other means.
If anyone receives such a notice claiming to be from “Publishers Clearinghouse,” be very aware, contact the proper authorities (including your state’s attorney general’s office), and perhaps such frauds and swindles can be avoided, before someone loses their hard earned savings.
Remember to watch out for your family members, neighbors and friends when it comes to crimes of all kind.
Illegal scams such as this can be stopped if we all just watch out for one another!
William Gerald Smith
Lancaster, Pa.[[In-content Ad]]
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