Diane was in shock when she heard the gentleman on the phone say, “Your husband has won $285,000.00 in the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes.” Diane’s husband had recently
passed away so she felt mixed emotions at the news. “Do you want the Prize Patrol to deliver the check while you are filmed for TV or do you want to remain anonymous?” he asked.
Diane opted for the anonymity. The gentleman advised her that the check would arrive in Miami in a few days and she would receive another telephone call. Diane hung up the phone and pondered her course of action. “Do I tell them my husband is not alive? Am I entitled to the prize as the surviving spouse?” she thought. Many decisions would have to be made.
The next day the gentleman called and advised Diane that the check had arrived in Miami. He asked her to send a cashier’s check for the rocessing fee in the amount of $2,850.00. “Processing Fee?” she inquired as she had never heard of this before. But then she had never known anyone
who had won the prize before. Diane questioned the fee and the gentleman said he would have the company attorney call her. Within an hour the attorney called and verified the payment of the processing fee by the winners of the prizes.
Diane did not commit to pay the fee because she did not feel comfortable with the request. During the next telephone call Diane informed the caller that she would meet him in Miami and after she received the prize check she would go with him to the bank and pay him the processing fee. He said he could not leave his office. Diane did some research and realized she was in the midst of a scam. No one pays a processing fee to Publisher’s Clearinghouse to retrieve a prize. How many countless persons actually became victim
From The Editor:
Congratulations! You Are A Winner … of this scheme along with Nigerian e-mail and fax hoax, the found money in the parking lot scam, etc.? Although the Publisher’s Clearinghouse is a reputable company that has been in business for more than 50 years, it and other sweepstakes companies produce other effects on many of us and, in particular, the seniors in our communities.
A common thought does come to mind when one reads the mailers from the sweepstakes companies: “If I buy the magazines and gifts offered in the mailing, I will have a better chance of winning the prizes!” My mother lived in her own apartment until she reached the age of 86. I began to notice the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s Disease in 1997. Short-term memory loss and repeated questions became more frequent. She was always concerned about the location of her pocketbook. I would bring my mother’s mail each day from her mailbox to her apartment.
The message in large print was the same on many of the envelopes: “Congratulations. You are a Winner.” There would be an asterisk referring to the smallest print at the bottom of a page which explained you are a winner if you have the matching numbers… I doubt many people actually read the fine print. I began to notice increasing numbers of sweepstakes mailings and magazine subscriptions. My mother received winning notices from Readers’ Digest Sweepstakes, the National Sweepstakes Company and many other familiar names. I believe the companies must have sold the names of the subscribers because the mailbox became inundated with “junk mail.” Then the gifts started to appear. There were cassette tapes, wallets, costume jewelry, etc. My mother’s kitchen counter began to look like a gift shop. When I discussed the situation with my mother, she had no concerns. She was confident she would be winning the sweepstakes because the language in the mailers was very convincing. Although I had mixed feelings, I decided to slowly “sort” the mail and eliminate the sweepstakes mailings. Over the course of months the mailings decreased as a direct result of the lack of purchases and responses. My mother never questioned it.
Diane filed a police report and she called the FBI after her final phone call with the “sweepstakes company.” She had the phone numbers for the caller and the “company attorney.” Maybe the authorities will be able to foil further attempts by these criminals. Fortunately Diane did not become a victim of a scam. Please caution your friends and family about this recent approach to seek payment of a 1% processing fee to collect a sweepstakes prize. Unsuspecting persons might consider it a small price to pay for a big payday. Let’s make sure that only legitimate callers will say, “Congratulations. You are a winner.”