Cheyenne Police Warn About Fake Publishers Clearing House Checks
Hearing you've won the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes may sound exciting, but it could also be too good to be true.
While PCH sweepstakes are legit -- they really do award prizes to lucky winners on a regular basis -- there are many scams that use the PCH name and logo to take your money.
And with millions of genuine PCH sweepstakes envelopes hitting people's mailboxes right now, scammers are busy.
In Cheyenne, police say they're seeing scammers mail fake checks to residents.
"To cash the check, victims are asked to call a number and provide bank information or pay a fee by purchasing gift cards," the department said in a Facebook post.
"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," PCH warns on the fraud protection section of its website.
If you've been the victim of a PCH imposter scam, PCH says you can report it by clicking here. PCH also advises you to contact your local consumer protection officials or the National Fraud Center at www.fraud.org.