Those who enter sweepstakes and lotteries always await that special phone call notifying them that they’ve won big.
Unfortunately, scammers know just how to play into people’s emotions and are tricking people into paying for prizes they haven’t actually won. BBB has received several reports of phone calls that impersonate Publishers Clearing House to BBB Scam Tracker.
Victims receive a phone call from someone claiming to be a Publishers Clearing House employee. They tell them they’ve won millions of dollars and a brand-new car. The person sends a photo of the new car and all the money they will receive. Even better, they say that real celebrities will come to the house in the coming days to award prizes.
However, there’s a catch. Before people can receive their prizes, scammers say they must first pay a fee for an “IRS requirement” or a “broker’s fee.”
To pay these fees, the individual on the phone may instruct victims to purchase a gift card and provide them with the numbers on the back of the card. They may also tell them to send money to a specific bank account or mail it to an address in another state. These fees can be hefty, ranging from a few hundred to thousands of dollars.
The person on the phone may also ask for more personal information from victims, like bank name, bank account and routing numbers. They may also ask victims about their current financial situation or the savings accounts they currently hold.
If people catch on to the scam and hang up the phone, the scammer may call back multiple times and leave several messages asking for the money, making it difficult to end communication with them.
“If you are told you have won a prize but have to pay any money, hang up the phone, rip up the letter, delete the social media contact, and report the contact to your local law enforcement agency,” said Christopher L. Irving of Publishers Clearing House, a BBB Accredited Business. “(Publishers Clearing House) will never call or private message a consumer on social media to let them know they have won and will never ask for payment.”
For more information, contact the Wisconsin BBB at www.bbb.org/wisconsin, 414-847-6000 or 800-273-1002. Consumers also can find more information about how to protect themselves from scams by following the Wisconsin BBB on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
