I received a letter last week from a reader who had been notified she won a large prize, courtesy of Publisher’s Clearing House!
Fortunately, she quickly recognized the warning signs and knew the correspondence was a scam. Despite several telephone calls, claim numbers, messages from different parties, she knew it sounded just a little too good to be true.
While she did not take the bait and send along any processing fees or taxes, many people do. While legitimate contests, sweepstakes and lotteries do exist, most of the ones out there are fraudulent.
Police strongly recommend screening telephone calls through Caller ID and to avoid any conversation with someone making promises to the moon. Many of these con artists are well-trained and can turn you into a believer, and sadly, too many people get caught up in the excitement and become a victim.
Remember, foreign sweepstakes are illegal and only the IRS is able to collect taxes. When surfing the internet, it’s easy to see the number of chances available; each with a great prize and the joys associated with winning.
Unfortunately, the true stories of victims are rarely publicized and quite sad. A little research goes a long way and it doesn’t take long to see the scripts and patterns used by con artists.
The best rule to follow when it comes to a contest you never entered: Don’t…
