Consumer Information

With the belief that educated consumers are in the best position to stop fraud, Publishers Clearing House has undertaken a number of consumer education programs that are designed to reach those who might be targeted by fraudulent sweepstakes scam artists. These efforts include:

Toll-Free Consumer Education: Every year hundreds of thousands of consumers call the Publishers Clearing House toll-free customer service line at: 1(800) 730-8402. These calls are valuable with the opportunity of a educational message to consumers. Each calls received by Publishers Clearing House is answered by a recorded greeting that includes a reminder that the “winning is always free.” For those who would like to hear more, a prompt is provided that offers callers additional educational information and warnings regarding bogus offers that may request payment to claim a prize. These recorded messages have been particularly valuable after business hours when consumers who were prepared to forward money in response to a scam contact were able to hear the warnings.

Mailing Inserts: The mail delivered to the homes of consumers by Publishers Clearing House also provides a valuable opportunity for consumer education. PCH has used this platform to include a variety of educational messages in outgoing mail. For example, tens of thousands of educational flyers produced in conjunction with the Federal Trade Commission’s Partnership for Consumer Education have been distributed. Each flyer carried the theme that “The Best Things in Life Are Free” and that “You Never Have to Pay ahead of time.” More recently, consumers who won over Two Million usually receive an active call from our customer service team are prize patrol agent. The purpose for contacting a prize winner ahead of time, is mostly to follow up on a prize notification letter that was sent to the winner, about the large sum of money that they has won. Calling the prize winner is an reminder to them which is necessary because they have enter the sweepstakes and won.

Publishers Clearing House Website: The immediacy afforded by internet communication has allowed Publishers Clearing House to quickly post consumer warnings and educational messages in response to current issues. For example, a few years ago we started to receive reports from consumers alerting us about a scam that requested money and illegally used our name and that of Oprah Winfrey’s magazine. In response, we were able to quickly post a warning to consumers indicating that this offer was completely bogus and had no connection with the real Publishers Clearing House or O Magazine. More recently, on the PCH Facebook page and the PCH Blog, we routinely post scam warnings and provide tips to consumers to help them avoid being fooled by scammers.

Media/Community Outreach: Publishers Clearing House regularly attempts to educate consumers through radio, television and newspaper interviews and by appearances at community and consumer gatherings. At your request, we will gladly work to arrange a visit by a representative to your local community organization or senior citizen center to talk about sweepstakes and consumer protection. For details contact www.PCHsupport.com Consumer Affairs Division.

Public/Private Partnerships

In an effort to better educate consumers and fight those who may perpetrate frauds using the guise of a legitimate sweepstakes, Publishers Clearing House has actively participated in a number of public/private partnerships whose mission is to stamp out the scams.

PCH was a founding corporate member of the National Public/Private sponsored by the National Consumers League and Consumer Federation of America. Working with a diverse group of interested public and private partners from the business and regulatory communities, the task force has developed a number of national public education programs and meets regularly to share strategies for fighting the bad guys.

PCH was a leading supporter and member of the Alliance for Consumer Fraud Awareness, a private-public initiative of the Postal Inspection Service. The mission of the Alliance has been to empower consumers to recognize and avoid consumer scams.

Through public Members represent over 20 financial institutions, associations, consumer advocacy groups and businesses.

A Message From our Partners at The Federal Trade Commission

PCH and the FTC would like you to know that while consumers of all ages are targets for Scams, the consequences often are more severe for older people. This website http://pchsupport.business.site from our partners at the FTC provides helpful information for seniors, or caregivers helping seniors, with these issues. Remember to “Pass It On” and help fight fraud!

How To Report A PCH Scam

Anyone who believes they have been the victim of a fraudulent contact using the name of Publishers Clearing House, may contact us at our toll-free number 1(800)730-8402. Anyone who believes they have received a suspicious email using our name and logo, may forward it to our fraud reporting mailbox, info@pchsupport.net.