Publishers Clearing House Scam Dupes Resident In Fairfax: Police

FAIRFAX, VA—A city resident fell victim this week to a familiar yet particularly insidious scam, according to Fairfax Police. We're talking about the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes scam.

In this case, shortly after 9 a.m. Friday, March 22, police responded to the Bank of America branch at 9500 Main Street for a reported fraud. The person told bank officials, and then police, of being been contacted multiple times between March 13 and March 21 by someone claiming to be from Publishers Clearing House.

To claim the undisclosed amount of "prize money," the person was told to send money to cover various processing costs. After sending "multiple checks," the person grew suspicious and went to the bank for advice. Bank employees recognized the likely scam and told the victim to contact police.

In fact, Publishers Clearing House has advice about how to avoid such a fate. Its list of safeguards is quite comprehensive, but here's the bottom line:

"If you are ever contacted by someone claiming to represent PCH, or claiming to be one of our employees, and asked to send or wire money (for any reason whatsoever, including taxes); or send a pre-paid gift card or Green Dot Moneypak card in order to claim a sweepstakes prize – DON’T! It’s a SCAM. If you are sent a check, told it’s a partial prize award, and asked to cash it and send a portion back to claim the full prize award, DON’T. The check is fake, but the SCAM is real!

"Publishers Clearing House does not operate this way and would NEVER ask for money to claim a prize. PCH employees would never contact you personally or in advance to notify you of a prize award. Our SuperPrize is presented just the way you see it in our popular TV commercials, “live and in person” by our Prize Patrol, with balloons, bouquet of roses and check in hand – – and with no advance notification!"

Also, the Federal Trade Commission has its own tips about how to avoid the PCH scam:

"Who wouldn’t love to be that winner you see on TV holding a great big sweepstakes check? That’s what con artists are counting on when they claim to be Publishers Clearing House. This trick is an oldie but goodie for scammers.

If you think you’ve won a prize, here are a few things to know:

• Never send money to collect a prize, sweepstakes check, or lottery winnings. If you have to pay, it’s a scam.
• Never deposit a check and send back money, even if the funds appear in your account. That’s a sure sign of a scam.
• If anyone calls asking you to pay for a prize, hang up and report it to the FTC.

Want to know more? Read our article on Prize Scams.