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Publishers Clearing House speaks after veteran loses $180K in imposter scam (video)
Newsbreak ^ | 1/8/2025 | Newsbreak

Posted on 01/09/2025 10:17:03 AM PST by Signalman

89 year old Vietnam vet was called by "Publisher's Clearing House" (PCH) and was informed he had won $7.5M dollars. He was told that in order to collect, he would need to send $180,000 to cover taxes on the prize and he then sent this amount to the fake PCH. The real PCH stated that they never call winners in advance and they do not take taxes out of the prize money before issuing to the winner of the prize.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: publishers; scam
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1 posted on 01/09/2025 10:17:03 AM PST by Signalman
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To: Signalman

We have to find these scammers and summarily execute them. It’s the only way to send the message.

Old folks are often slightly mentally compromised. My sharp-as-a-tack multi-millionaire grandfather fell victim to one of these scams and figured it out just after he sent the money. He thought he was helping my idiot cousin, but it was one of the scams where they speak softly on the phone where an old person can’t hear, then con the name of the relative out of the old person, and say they’re in jail and need bail, need money to not get evicted, etc.


2 posted on 01/09/2025 10:26:04 AM PST by Nathan _in_Arkansas (Hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats. )
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To: Signalman

I got one of these calls. “Sir, great news!” (Jamaican accent caller.). “You’ve won $800,000 from Publisher’s Clearning house!”

“Oh that’s awesome! And it’s your lucky day as well.”

“How is that?”

“I’ll tell you soon.”

“Okay, sir, well to process this you have to pay the taxes up front of $8,000...”

“Oh, so here’s the great news for you! I’m going to let you TRIPLE your money within a week. You pay the $8,000, then keep $24,000 so you’ve got a 3 x return on your money - then mail the rest to me.”

“Oh no sir. It does not work that way...”


3 posted on 01/09/2025 10:26:08 AM PST by TigerClaws
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To: Signalman

We get scam phone calls all the time. They are obviously probing for vulnerable old people. I have temporarily shut down one or two of them by bombarding them with phone calls until they switch to a new spoofed phone number.


4 posted on 01/09/2025 10:27:33 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (The worst thing about censorship is █████ ██ ████ ████ ████ █ ███████ ████. FJB.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

We get calls from ‘The Police Union’
Scammers


5 posted on 01/09/2025 10:32:32 AM PST by George from New England (escaped CT back in 2006ttsee)
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To: Signalman

Have caller id, voicemail and don’t answer numbers you don’t know. They will leave a message if they know you and want to talk. You’re not missing anything. It’s that simple and safe.


6 posted on 01/09/2025 10:34:43 AM PST by mikey_hates_everything
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Scams also prey on greedy people. Who really believes you will get money by sending money to them first? Sometimes the best thing that can happen to a person is to forget to pay their credit cards.

If you want to get rid of a scammer, just start rambling. The rambling says you might be a mark but they also can’t get a word in. My aunt had dementia and even I felt sorry for the scammers. She couldn’t remember what day it was but she could always remember which relatives she was feuding with and the wrongs they did to her. Her son found an old Esso credit card and left it next to the phone for amusement.


7 posted on 01/09/2025 10:34:44 AM PST by AppyPappy (If Hitler were alive today and criticized Trump, would he still be Hitler?)
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To: Signalman

My wife got one of those calls..................


8 posted on 01/09/2025 10:35:18 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Signalman

A older friend of mine went to his bank to withdraw a large sum to pay for home improvements and for some landscaping. It was all very legitimate.

A bank officer took him aside, and gently quizzed him about the withdrawal. That was a very good thing! The officer wanted to make sure my friend wasn’t the target of a scam.

It would be nice if every bank would do this. The trick though would be how to handle the transfers that are done online.


9 posted on 01/09/2025 10:35:24 AM PST by Leaning Right (It’s morning in America. Again.)
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To: Signalman

My brother-in-law fell for this scam. The docs they sent him looked pretty legit. He even got letters from the “IRS” explaining the tax ramifications.


10 posted on 01/09/2025 10:39:31 AM PST by Crusher138 ("Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just")
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To: Signalman

My mother was almost the victim of this scam. She got a phone call from someone claiming to be from PCH. The scammer told her she was the winner of millions of dollars and a new car and the PCH team was on their way to her house right that very minute to award the prizes to her. They just needed her to pay them a fee of $3800.

She actually thought this was genuine and went to retrieve her credit/debit cards. My brother and I had to almost yell at her this was a scam, don’t give them any money. At first she wouldn’t listen to us. She wanted to believe this was real. With the house phone in her hand and the scammer still on the other end, it took a minute or two for us to argue her out of it and convince her to hang up on the scammer.


11 posted on 01/09/2025 10:41:31 AM PST by lowbridge ("Let’s check with Senator Schumer before we run it" - NY Times)
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To: Nathan _in_Arkansas
We have to find these scammers and summarily execute them.

And the biggest scammers of all are those in government. They're ripping off *millions* of fixed income elderly folk who after 50++ years of paying punitive taxes, the government still seizes property taxes on their homes, homes they finally own free and clear after they've paid taxes on those homes for decade after decade. And if they don't keep paying up, they'll seize their homes as well.

12 posted on 01/09/2025 10:44:01 AM PST by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: Nathan _in_Arkansas
We have to find these scammers and summarily execute them.

Identity theft people need to be executed as well.

13 posted on 01/09/2025 10:49:48 AM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear ( Not my circus. Not my monkeys. But I can pick out the clowns at 100 yards.)
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To: AppyPappy

> If you want to get rid of a scammer, just start rambling. <

There’s automated phone answering system that does that. It’s called “Hello, this is Lenny.” It features the pre-recorded voice of an old man, Lenny.

Every time the scammer pauses in his pitch, Lenny will say something. It’s an endless loop. Lenny’s comments are designed to fit whatever the scammer might say.

It’s very clever, and quite amusing. Here’s an example of Lenny in action:

https://youtu.be/t7kSWvt3KXY?si=arBsd7CpcRqOqrkC


14 posted on 01/09/2025 10:50:30 AM PST by Leaning Right (It’s morning in America. Again.)
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To: Signalman

I got scammed recently too for a large amount, but thankfully a Nigerian Prince has agreed to recoup my losses if I can front him $5k in transfer fees.


15 posted on 01/09/2025 10:52:30 AM PST by Zack Attack (✔)
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To: Leaning Right

Leaning Right wrote:


> If you want to get rid of a scammer, just start rambling. <

There’s automated phone answering system that does that. It’s called “Hello, this is Lenny.” It features the pre-recorded voice of an old man, Lenny.

Every time the scammer pauses in his pitch, Lenny will say something. It’s an endless loop. Lenny’s comments are designed to fit whatever the scammer might say.

It’s very clever, and quite amusing. Here’s an example of Lenny in action:

https://youtu.be/t7kSWvt3KXY?si=arBsd7CpcRqOqrkC

Lenny for the win!


16 posted on 01/09/2025 10:54:47 AM PST by WildHighlander57 ((the more you tighten your grip, the more go na star systems will slip through your fingers.) )
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To: Signalman

Wow. I got a similar voice mail.


17 posted on 01/09/2025 10:56:48 AM PST by CottonBall (Librela, the new jab for dogs and cats. Pfizer/Zoetis is making billions killing our furbabies.)
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To: lowbridge

“My mother was almost the victim of this scam. She got a phone call from someone claiming to be from PCH. The scammer told her she was the winner of millions of dollars and a new car and the PCH team was on their way to her house right that very minute to award the prizes to her. They just needed her to pay them a fee of $3800.”

I pretty much had the same call. But they only asked for a $250 fee. I knew it was a scam from the start but went along just to see how much they would try for. They hung up after I told them I would have the $250 in cash when they showed up with car and check.


18 posted on 01/09/2025 10:58:26 AM PST by nomorelurker
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To: Crusher138
Only once in my life have I legitimately won something, was in the late 1980’s.

I won two tickets to the January 1st Mobile Cotton Bowl Classic game, two hotel nights in Dallas and two round trip airfares from anywhere in the 48 states.

But it came with a IRS scam.

Since I lived within 90 miles of Dallas, I was not eligible to use the airfare tickets.

Since I lived within 90 miles of Dallas, I was not eligible to use the 2 hotel night stays.

The prize was “package” and Mobil was going to send to the IRS the total dollar value of the prize for me to pay taxes on.

I declined the prize.

19 posted on 01/09/2025 11:00:42 AM PST by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken that's for sure.)
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To: Nathan _in_Arkansas
We have to find these scammers and summarily execute them. It’s the only way to send the message. Unfortunately most of them originate from lawless countries and are unreachable by normal law enforcement means.
20 posted on 01/09/2025 11:01:09 AM PST by DarrellZero
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