Crooks Take Publishers Clearing House Scam to a New Level

Publishers Clearing House scams are so common, the sweepstakes even has a page on its website dedicated to protecting people from falling prey to bad guys.

The crooks, however seem to be getting more devious in their attempts to use the sweepstakes as a tool to part victims from their money.

The latest warning comes out of St. Petersburg where scammers set up an elaborate plan to get a 71-year-old man to fork over $1,500 in exchange for $600,000 in winnings.

St. Petersburg Police learned of the elaborate scam Tuesday when they took a report from the man who said he received a call telling him he’d won that $600,000. In order to claim the prize, he was told he needed to put a deposit on a Vanilla Reload prepaid card. The caller went on to inform the man that the sweepstakes paperwork was being forwarded to Major Mike Kovacsev of the St. Petersburg Police Department for verification.

A short time later, the elderly gentleman received a call from a person who identified himself as Kovacsev. The number on his caller ID was the police department’s 727-893-7780 non-emergency line.

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“Kovacsev” told the man he had received the paperwork , was checking it out and would get back to him shortly.

“A little while later that person representing himself as Major Kovacsev called again saying that everything had checked out and that he should go ahead and purchase the prepaid card as instructed by the initial caller,” department spokesman Mike Puetz wrote in an email to media.

That might have been the end of the man’s $1,500 if the intended victim hadn’t tried to call Kovacsev again after making the purchase.

The man called the number on his ID and was connected to the real Kovacsev’s voicemail at the police department.

”The victim left a voicemail message thanking him for checking out the authenticity of his sweepstake winnings and to let him know that he had purchased the prepaid card,” Puetz wrote.

When the real Kovacsev heard that message, he swung into action, calling the victim back immediately and uncovering the truth behind the scam, Puetz said.

Fortunately, Kovacsev got back in touch with the victim in time to stop him from sending that prepaid card to the bad guys.

Police warm residents to be mindful of such schemes as scammers are going to great lengths to appear legitimate in victims’ eyes.

“In many of these scams the suspects represent themselves as members of local law enforcement
and utilize the names of high ranking officers who may appear in the news,” Puetz warned. “Other forms of this have involved alleged outstanding warrants or supposedly unpaid fines.”

Anyone who believes they have been targeted by a scammer is asked to call local law enforcement.

For its part, Publishers Clearing House warns people that winning its sweepstakes “is always free and you never have to pay to claim a prize award,” its website states. “If someone contacts you claiming to be from PCH, and tells you that you’ve won a prize award then ask you to send a payment or money card in order to claim the prize, stop. You have not heard from the real PCH.”

Image via Shutterstock