Last year, my aunt, who is an avid stamp licking, going online playing games and buying a bunch of products she doesn't need, PCH Junkie received a phone call from someone claiming to be from the PCH Prize Patrol. They told her that they were located in Washington, DC and she was just announced the lastest winner of their $5000/week for life contest. All she had to do, was to provide them with proof of her identity, in the form of a birth certificate and SSN, and someone would be by to collect the processing fee for her prize. She immediately called me, screaming how she finally won the jackpot, however the call ended with her being no so happy. I took the information that they gave her, telephone numbers and addresses, and googled them and found that the information was bogus and even the names that they gave were bogus. I then looked up the real number for PCH and spoke with someone in their customer service department, who confirmed that auntie, sadly, was not a winner. This story ends well, because I was able to prevent her from giving away her personal information and her hard earned money. I hope all of you are just as careful. PCH's website lists the names of the Prize Patrol, along with telephone numbers and addresses to reach them if you have inquiries. NEVER send anyone your identifiation or SSN, unless you have verified that it is necessary.
Well, that was a cruel hoax. It sad that some people think the only way to get by is to try to get over on other people. It's a very good thing your aunt called you first. Great detective work too.
I'm glad the story ended well. It is a good thing she called you! This is a really good reminder to everyone that you really cannot be too careful these days. Scammers are using the big name businesses to pull off their scams more frequently now. Unfortunately, most of the time their targets are our senior citizens. This is a really good lesson in that not only do we need to look out for ourselves, but also for our elders. Thanks for the share.
It is sad that people do this, but unfortunately it happens quite often (not just PCH.) Glad that she called you right away and that all was straightened out, just feel bad she ended up getting excited and then let down. I have not had a call from these people, but had "winning notifications" in my email many times before.
I can't believe that the Publisher's Clearing House is still in action!! I thought they had shut down loooong ago. I forgot they even existed, except for when comedians will occasionally reference it for a quick chuckle. It's a good thing she called you, who knows what would have happened to her accounts and any regular checks she might be receiving. There are some sick people in the world. I'm glad they'll eventually get what's coming to them.
I can't believe they are a scam. I use to see their advertisements on PUBLIC TELEVISION. Can you imagine how many people they have caught with it? Either they are a scam or they have duplicates destroying their credibility. Anyway that was a cruel hoax and something should be done about it . Did she report them to the police, maybe they can trace and shut them down before someone else falls victim. I almost got scammed when I received an email saying my long lost cousin who used to be rich died and his profits had to be split. They just needed my credit card info so that they could transfer the money. Almost fell for it because I actually had a rich cousin but he did not die. HAHA
Wow, that was definitely cruel. Props to you for picking up on the scam before it went too far. I'd be mad if I got all excited about that kind of money, only to find out that it was fake and that someone was actually trying to steal from ME. Grrr. People are ridiculous nowadays with their scams -- they seem to be everywhere.
Your aunt was lucky because she had you. Sadly these criminals play the numbers game. They know that many of their victims, especially older people with no skills to search the net for information, will fall for it because they have no one to warn them. I really think there should be a phone and a website where you could report these people if they try to scam them, and then investigate the people they get too many complaints about. I am talking about a phone call or filling a web form, not a full complaint to the police. If that happens then the numbers game will work against the scammers instead of for them.
