{"id":322242,"date":"2014-12-31T15:39:15","date_gmt":"2014-12-31T21:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ktbb.com\/post\/?p=322242"},"modified":"2015-01-01T15:46:37","modified_gmt":"2015-01-01T21:46:37","slug":"bogus-publishers-clearing-house-scammers-strike-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=322242","title":{"rendered":"Bogus Publisher\u2019s Clearing House Scammers Strike Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Better<\/a>TYLER \u2013 The Better Business Bureau cautions consumers of reports of phone calls from con-artists pretending to be from the official Publisher\u2019s Clearing House (PCH) or from the U.S. Post Office announcing winnings from PCH. These bogus phone calls inform customers that they have won a major prize. The \u201cwinners\u201d are instructed to wire hundreds of dollars in order to claim their prize. Once the money is received, the caller states that the PCH team will arrive to deliver their \u201cwinnings\u201d. The calls are originating from an 876 area code, which is in Jamaica. But, it\u2019s all a scam.<\/p>\n

\u201cScammers continue to add new twists to the old tried-and-true frauds, even using Google satellite maps to describe the \u2018winner\u2019s\u2019 residence\u201d, said Mechele Agbayani, President and CEO of BBB Serving Central East Texas. \u201cBBB reminds consumers to be extra cautious, because in most cases, they have nothing to win and much to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n

BBB has the following word of caution for consumers who are thinking about responding to a lottery:
\n\u2022\tIf you do not remember entering a lottery or sweepstakes, it\u2019s not likely you\u2019ve won.
\n\u2022\tBeware of lotteries or sweepstakes that charge a fee prior to delivering your prize.
\n\u2022\tBe wary of demands to send additional money as a requirement to be eligible for future winnings.
\nBBB’s advice if you receive a letter, email or phone call from someone claiming to be Publishers Clearing House:
\n\u2022\tOne the easiest things to do is to look up the PCH phone number yourself (from a trusted source like BBB) and give them a call; representatives from PCH should be able to verify if the letter you’re holding is legitimate or if it’s a scam.
\n\u2022\tAccording to PCH, winning entrants of the contest must be located and sign an Affidavit of Eligibility within 30 days of being chosen as the winner or another entrant will be selected.
\n\u2022\tPCH will never send out winning notices by email or phone calls. They will only contact major prize winners in person; smaller prize winners are notified by FedEx, UPS or certified mail.
\n\u2022\tIf the phone call or letter you’ve received asks for money, bear in mind that the real PCH says; “winning is always free.” Consumers should never wire money to an unknown individual or company in order to receive something in return.
\n\u2022\tWhile this scam predominantly takes advantage of individuals, business owners also need to be aware that their company’s name could potentially be used by fraudsters to pull off this con. The fraudulent checks sent to the supposed prize winners with the letter are copies of checks from legitimate businesses which have been stolen by the scammers.<\/p>\n

If you believe you have received a suspicious letter or email from a fake sweepstakes or wish to report another fraudulent activity, please call the BBB Hotline: 903-581-8373. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TYLER \u2013 The Better Business Bureau cautions consumers of reports of phone calls from con-artists pretending to be from the official Publisher\u2019s Clearing House (PCH) or from the U.S. Post Office announcing winnings from PCH. These bogus phone calls inform customers that they have won a major prize. The \u201cwinners\u201d are instructed to wire hundreds … Continue reading Bogus Publisher\u2019s Clearing House Scammers Strike Again<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-322242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-archive-archives"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-14 04:03:02","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=322242"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":322244,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322242\/revisions\/322244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=322242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=322242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=322242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}