AVENTURA, Fla. -- One knock and you're a millionaire -- if it's the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes knocking at your door. But NBC6 discovered some scam artists are using this American tradition.
A Publisher's Clearing House promotional DVD says to "watch your mail." Letters that are showing up in mailboxes look official and claim to be from Publisher's Clearing House, but they are not.
"We're really concerned," Publisher's Clearing House representative Chris Irving said. "Consumers are losing money. We're very angry about this."
A letter came to an Aventura woman stating she was a million-dollar winner. It said Oprah Winfrey's O magazine was the sponsor. The letter included a $4,700 check for fees associated with the Publishers Clearing House prize.
But when the recipient called the phone number, Irving said, "They're told to send money back to collect a prize."
South Florida postal inspectors are on the lookout for scams like this.
"They (Publishers Clearing House) don't send a letter with a check to their winners," inspector Bladismir Rojo says. "The fact that you are just getting a letter in the mail gives you reason to be skeptical."
Felix Bossio said he lost $2,600. He said he received a letter saying he won $53,000. Also enclosed was a $2,600 check. He took it to his bank.
"So Bank of America actually cashed the check. You had money in hand?" NBC6's Willard Shepard asked.
"They said OK. They give me the money," Bossio said.
Bossio immediately left the Bank of America and went to a Sedano's grocery store, where he purchased a $2,600 money-gram and wired the funds to Toronto, Canada.
The money went to a Bobby Gray, but Felix Bossio never saw his $53,000. "They were sneaky. They never called back," Bossio said. But the bank did. The bank told Bossio the check was counterfeit and he had to replace the $2,600. "Because you deposit this check into your account and it clears, doesn't mean it's not a counterfeit," Rojo said.
NBC6 called the contact numbers on the fake Publishers Clearing House letter, and no one called back. Authorities said to look out for letters from out of the country and those with poor English.
"I think this is just a time where with the economy the way it is, obviously there's more effort on their behalf to try to scam money," Rojo said.
So far, there have been 29 complaints to the Florida attorney general about fraudulent Publishers Clearing House letters.
"If it's a legitimate prize, you never have to pay any amount to collect that prize," Irving said.
Bank of America said it cannot comment on Bossio's case.
Source: NBC6.net
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From Publishers Clearing House:
We want you to know of reports we have received detailing fraudulent e-mails pretending to be from the real Publishers Clearing House and our famous web site pch.com. These bogus e-mails tell consumers they have won a major prize with Publishers Clearing House and seek personal financial information such as bank account, checking account or social security numbers. Some may request payment for some form of bogus fee, tax or processing cost.
We know how important it is to protect your identity from unlawful use, and shield your accounts from fraud and unauthorized access. With that in mind, we want to remind you of important consumer education information about our famous sweepstakes:
* Publishers Clearing House ("PCH") does NOT send e-mails notifying consumers that they have won a major prize. If you win a major prize in our sweepstakes our Prize Patrol will contact you in person. For smaller prizes, winners are notified by overnight delivery services (FedEx, UPS) or certified mail.
* PCH does NOT send e-mails requesting personal banking or financial information in connection with a prize. If you receive an email seeking your bank account, checking account, social security number or other financial information BEWARE.
* If you are contacted about winning a prize but are required to buy something, pay a fee, tax or processing cost STOP. You have not heard from a legitimate sweepstakes and it's certainly not from the real Publishers Clearing House!
If you believe you have received a suspicious e-mail that bears our name or logo, please forward it to our fraud reporting mailbox, abuse@pch.com, and contact us immediately at our toll free number (800) 645 - 9242. We will be happy to confirm whether the communication is from the real Publishers Clearing House.
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I RECEIVED A LETTER WITH A CHECK FOR FOUR HUNDRED AND NINETY DOLLARS.THIS LETTER STATED THAT I HAD WON A MILLION DOLLAR DRAWING.I WAS INSTRUCTED TO CALL THE CLAIMS OFFICE BEFORE CASHING THE CHECK.I CALLED THE NUMBER GIVEN AND WAS TOLD TO CASH THE CHECK AND MONEY GRAM IT TO PAULA COPELAND VICTORIA BRITISH COLUMBIA CANADA.THAT SHE WAS THE LAWYER THAT WOULD HANDLE ALL OF THE LEGAL ASPECTS OF MY NEW FOUND MONEY. BEING THAT I HAVE BEEN PARTICIPATING IN PUBLISHERS CLEARING I BELIEVED IT TO BE LEGIT.NOT ONLY DID THEY GET ME WITH A BOGUS CHECK THEY KNOW HAVE MY BANK ACCOUNY NUMBER (TO DEPOSIT MY MILLION).THIS ALL STARTED LATE AFTERNOON TO LATE TODAY FOR ME TO KNOW IF THEY HAVE DRAINED MY ACCOUNT OF ALL I HAVE.I HAVE FILED A POLICE REPORT,AND CONTACTED THE CONSUMER.GOV VIA COMPUTER I PRAY THEY STOP THEM AND HOPEFULLY GET MY MONEY BACK.
Darryl -So sorry to hear you were scammed. Closed out your bank account and open a new one. Never cash checks sent to you and whenever in doubt -check with your police department or search online about scams and you will most likely find information on it. Fake check scams are a growing concern. Never deposit a check received out of the blue from someone claiming you won money! See link to an earlier blog on this particular scam and a few others below. The bad guys are getting very good at what they do...thinking up new ways to scam the public. I am so sorry to hear you were hooked by one of their many scams. Be sure to close out your bank account, and take any safeguards you can to ensure they don't use your information to commit more crimes in your name.
http://www.givemebackmycredit.com/blog/2009/02/fbi-warns-work-at-home-scams-a.html
well, i just want to tell you it happened to me this morning. I got a letter from fedex,i opened it, i could not be leave it. i told my self, self, WE WON. Oh,i said to my self, you better read it over. myself said, oh, no your right, we did win. So now I got to get ready for P.C.H
Come to find out, i woke up.
Well, I will go on with my day & remember my dream with a smile & hold that dream close to my heart.I will say my prayers for I know God is always with me. You have a good day.GOD BLESS. CECE
To whom it may concern.
I am a writer and feel I should make it known to the general public that my publishing company commonly known as Publish America is illegally conducting its business affairs. I signed a contract with them in May last year and since then I haven’t received a single penny in royalties. Not only myself, dozens of other authors are witnessing the same problem. At first I thought it was of the great distance between Publish America and myself where I am based in Spain, but later discovered that authors even in Maryland itself are undergoing this very same treatment. Recently, I have tried on numerous occasions to cancel my contract with them and they bluntly say request denied. My ISBN numbers on the internet speak for themselves as they have risen sharply over the last few months meaning I am selling very well. I just feel that my work known as DOK deserves the coverage it has claimed for itself by a law abiding publisher and I as author of that work deserve compensation for the two years I put into it. The thousands of Dollars I put into the making of its pages is being purposefully and willingly claimed by this company for its own illegal usage. I appeal to those that read this to help me in this matter as I am now completely broke and rely entirely on any funds I may claim from this. I know there is someone behind them, no one company can sustain such negativity and still keep afloat with the staff they have. Some of us need those royalties to stay alive. Publish America has published my work for their own benefit, not our benefit as is laid out in their slogan and contract and as far as I am concerned have broken every rule and regulation within their very own contract. I thank you for your time.
Yours truly
Michael Gilwood ISBN 9781615463992
I received this a short while ago from PA. This is how they treat their authors when asking for information. I replied saying I wanted my contract cancelled.
Stephen Woodward:
Do not contact us about this issue again, not by phone, email, or otherwise.
We are under no obligation whatsoever to defend why we abide by a
contract and why we expect the author to do the same, nor why we
refuse to waste any more time elaborating.
Final answer. Again: do not contact us again about this issue in any
way, or we will report you to your local authorities for harassment.
If you can assist or point me in the right direction i would appreciate it.
In these modern days as we ascend the twenty first century, fraud, the second oldest occupation known to man, has many faces. It seeps and wreaks havoc into many hearts and many homes devastating and destroying the hopes of people. We can understand the need for the human being to survive, the need for him or her to have more, to live better or eat better than the next man but what it really causes is sometimes the separation of families ending in divorce and financial loss. The things that don’t make front page news. The loss of property, the hidden family heirloom, pertinences in the bedroom have to be sold, the diamond ring, the car or even the house. Banks these days don’t give loans, they will take before they give. This makes them one of the greatest legal candidates. On the other hand, corporations or groups of companies sitting safe behind their legal firewalls way up there in the clouds on their pedestals are the flip side to this insipid coin. These proverbial do-gooders bathing in wads of money have no scruples; they have no heart as they reach out and take, they only worry about themselves absconding or turning their heads away in the other direction from whom they rip-off along the way with their big perfumed grins and toothy smiles.
I HAVE BEEN SCAMMED BY PEOPLE SAYING THEY ARE FROM PUBLISHERS CLEARING HOUSE..ALSO SAYING I NEEDED TO SEND ALOT OF MONEY TO RECIEVE MY 1,000,000.00USD.I NEED TO KNOW WHERE I CAN SEND ALL OF THESE EMAILS THAT THEY HAVE BEEN SENDING ME...THANK YOU PLEASE LET ME KNOW..
There are resources for reporting these scams. We have a listing of them at http://scamvictimsunited.com/Reporting_scams.htm
If you have any information, such as copies of the letter telling you that you won, you can post that information on our message board.
I would also encourage everyone to sign the petition that Denise and I have created asking for scam education and awareness programs at http://www.change.org/actions/view/create_scam_education_and_awareness_programs
Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of http://scamvictimsunited.com/
I have received the below letter today,
ATTN"Beneficiary
We are please to announce to you that your email address emerged along
side 4 others as a category to winner in this year\'s weekly Publishers
Clearing House Consequently.You have won One million dollars and
therefore been approved for a total pay out of One million dollars
($1,000,000.00USD) The following particulars are attached to your lotto
payment order:
winning numbers :47-14-34-85-67-32
email, ticket number: FL 754/22/76
Please contact the underlined claims officer with the Contact info below
AGENT: Mr. Michael Collins
EMAIL: pch.claimsdepartment001@gmail.com
Winner you are to send the details below to process the immediate
payment of your prize
1. Name in full:
2. Address:
3. Mobile number:
4. Sex:
5. Nationality:
6. Age:
7. Present Country:
!!!Once Again Congratulations!!!
Yours Sincerely,
Mrs.Reyna Cruz
ONLINE CO-ORDINATOR.
David -that is yet another type of scam that has been circulating.
Publish America pay their authors twice a year, namely March and September. After putting two years into the writing/editing of my novel called DOK, i joined the long list of scammed authors with this disgusting rip off publisher. My first paycheck was nil (March this year) after i had signed many of my books and had spent hundreds of hours joining blogs, making profiles, marketing etc. My second paycheck i got as a late email. Here is the sample.
Dear Stephen Woodward:
Thank you for your email. All statements have been sent, either via email or via regular USPS mail. According to our records, your statement was sent electronically to your current email address. An electronic statement indicates no sales for which PublishAmerica received payment during the royalty period.
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Advertisement: PublishAmerica recommends "Fishing in Prison Waters: A Life Sacrificed for Others" by Frank A.B. Slaughter, a must read to reduce gang activity. Buy it here: http://www.publishamerica.net/product89070.html.
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Thank you and have a good day,
Hannah
PublishAmerica Support
hannah@publishamerica.com
This is so untrue! I have given my book as a gift, i have signed many copies, i even managed to sell the book (approx 200)over the internet to many friends and customers. On the internet a book can be measured by the amount of entries it displays. As of this day i am at 137 which means there are 137 entities holding my book or have shown recent sales. The weird thing is, the week i was supposed to have received my so called paycheck, someone hacked my old hotmail account and i lost it completely. Not even Microsoft believe who i am. This whole episode redefines the word frustration.
I received a call supposedly from Publishers Clearing House. I was told I won 4.5 million dollars and a white Mercedes with licence plates with my name on it.
They told me that the prize patrol was in Cincinnati and was on their way to my house.
I was to go to the nearest Telegram office and send money for them to release the check and they would take care of the IRS from the funds they wanted me to send...They even offered to loan me th e money to do sol
I cannot believe I even stayed on the phone so long.
Now that I think about it I too got a check in the mail and I was suppose to cash this check and then send them $ for processing..............
This is so wrong for people to do this to others.
After reading similar stories my heart goes out to those that followed through with their instructions.
Thank you for posting the warning so that others will also get it before these people contnue this scam.
Carol
So I will say that I have been getting these letters for years. I ignore them. But this time in june or july I got a friend request on my facebook from Some one by the name of, "David Sayer" or should I say at least they claimed to be him. After talking to him and calling the number they had asked to call I knew right away that it was fake. So I continued inboxing this person and asking a million and one questions. I asked them who they really were. I asked them where are they located, I asked why would I send money to them western union if I had won. I asked alot. Well needless to say they deactivated the account and I haven't heard from them or the so called PCH Claim Crew. people Beware...I even still get emails all day saying all claim your prize by clicking this link and that link....