Posted on 08/22/2017 8:26:17 AM PDT by Allen In Texas Hill Country
OK, we all know of PCH. Been around forever. I just got a call which said I won. Kinda of a long call. To the point. They/he said I needed to wire $45 to an individual in Star City, Arkansas to pay for taxes. Now was expecting a lot lot more to pay for taxes, but it was only $45. For just $45 I'm half inclined to wire the money.
Anybody hear about this scam? One the one hand she wore@$%^#$^#$^ wait a minute,,,,,
It just seems a complete waste of time to make a phone call for just $45.
Money wired will arrive with:
^ALL^ of your bank account information, including your name and address.
They show up at your door unannounced.
THEN you pays the taxes......................
Apparently scammers are using this and Make-a-Wish to run their scams. Basically the same premise. You won something, but we need cash to pay x in fees/taxes.
It has bogus written all over it. It’s a common scam to tell a “winner” to send money. If you won, why are you supposed to send money?
It’s the classic Nigerian email scam with a PCH twist.
You get an email saying some Nigerian nobility left you a huge sum of money but to claim it you need to wire “just a fraction” of it to some third party (usually with some government sounding name like “Nigerian Minister of Finance” or some such).
Any call or other correspondence that asks you to “wire” money to collect a greater sum is a scam, period.
PCH (as all reputable lotteries) state clearly (if not in the fine print) “taxes are the sole responsibility of the winner” meaning YOU pay the taxes YOURSELF to the IRS. They don’t withhold a portion or take the taxes you owe and pay the IRS for you. You pay them (with the help of a competent tax attorney and financial advisor preferably).
It’s a scam. Report the number to any authority you wish (your phone company the Feds the local police) and accept your real financial situation whatever it is.
Thoughts.
1 - If it sounds too good to be true, it is.
2 - There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
This is why landline phones can be hung up and cell phone have and end button.
No ‘on the up’ company calls out of the blue and asked for a credit card number or bank account info.
It’s a scam pure and simple, just like good ol’ Podesta fell for.
NEVER even click on some sort of email like this, many of them are infected with viruses.
It is a scam. PCH will take the taxes out of the winnings.
They send you a check and a form for your taxes.
Your data on lottery winning witholding may be out of date. Powerball and Mega Millions prize over $500 or $600, can’t recall exact amount, have both Fed, State, and sometimes local with holding on prize payouts. Fed is just under 40%. So I rather doubt PCH winners, being such juicy targets are exempt. Win a car, boat, whatever, you owe taxes and the gov gets theirs first. You may or may not recover portions of that depending on your tax situation.
Based on my experience of winning a 5 figure prize some 20 years ago. Don’t imagine the IRS has relaxed their talons on this matter.
Yeah... You can bet your sweet hindquarters it’s a scam..!!
go for it ... and while you’re at it, pick up a couple hundred dollars in amazon gift cards and send to me ‘ause i got a s’prise for you
It’s a scam. If you send them a check, they will have all the banking information they need, plus your signature, to drain your account. They will also have your address for further misdeeds.
Just no. I’ve had a couple of older friends, and one younger get sucked into schemes like this.
After you lose the $45, it makes sense to wire another $25 for a fee they forgot or randomly comes up. Pretty soon you are in for hundreds so a few more bucks to get the prize just makes sense. It is generally when it is weeks later and you are now in for thousands that the realization sets in.
Walk away and forget about it.
Yep, once they’ve identified a rube, the name gets passed around.
I already send money to FR.!!!!
Yeah, its a scam from Jamaica. Area code 876:<((((
We came to Kerrville in the early 2000s, 2003 or 4 and bought 2 hill top acres. Finally retired in 2006 after 34 years in Calif. After 8 years of driving into town from out in the hills we moved into town 3 years ago. We are very, very comfortable here.
And I know its a scam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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