ChumpChange's Blog

How to Spot and Avoid Publishers Clearing House Scams

How to Spot and Avoid Publishers Clearing House Scams
https://www.security.org/digital-safety/scams/publishers-clearing-house/

Fake Checks
Publishers Clearing House sends checks for prizes under $600. If you get a check in the mail for a higher amount, then it is a scam.

If it’s under $600 and requires you to pay legal fees or insurance before cashing the check, it’s also a scam. Publishers Clearing House checks can be taken directly to the bank and cashed.

If you want to confirm you’re a winner in the Publishers Clearing House sweepstake, we recommend calling them at 1-800-459-4724.

The Publishers Clearing House prize patrol knocks on your door and greets you with a giant check, a bunch of balloons and flowers. Smile, you’ll also be on camera.
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Don’t spend fake checks: If you’ve cashed a fake check and the money has provisionally appeared in your bank account, don’t spend it. Your bank will eventually identify that this money cannot be collected from the payer and deduct the amount from your balance.
https://lifelock.norton.com/learn/fraud/publishers-clearing-house-scam

What can I do if I’m unsure that a PCH award notification is legitimate?
Contact PCH’s customer service team via chat or call their support line at 800-566-4724 during business hours. A customer support representative can verify if you’re a winner with your name, email address, or customer ID number.

Can I win a PCH prize without entering the sweepstakes?
No, you can’t win money from Publishers Clearing House unless you enter your name into the contest. However, you might receive an award notification if the winner can’t claim their prize and you’re their next of kin.

Can someone else enter me in the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes?
Yes, someone else can enter you in the sweepstakes if they follow Publishers Clearing House’s rules. However, if you’re contacted by someone claiming to be from PCH and suggesting you’ve won a prize from a sweepstakes you didn’t enter, call the PCH customer support team to verify it’s legitimate.

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This looks like the type of scam I'm encountering for a 2nd place $850K prize and an $8K+ check.
Scam letter claims you won $2.5M prize from Publishers Clearing House - WGAL News 8 - Apr 26, 2024

https://www.wgal.com/article/letter-claims-recipient-won-prize-from-publishers-clearing-house/60622696

You get a letter telling you that you just won millions of dollars, along with a large check to help you pay taxes and fees.
Are you thinking this might be a scam?
You're right.
The scam claiming you've won a lot of money is not a new one, but it has evolved to levels that still have viewers wondering if it's real.
A viewer sent 8 On Your Side a letter that appears to be from Publishers Clearing House. It tells the recipient that they have just won a $2.5 million prize.
The letter also includes a check for $9,800 and instructions to call a claims manager at the provided phone number before depositing the check.
The victim is instructed to deposit the check in their account and immediately return most of it to the claims manager to cover taxes and fees
While the check appears to be real, it's actually a fake.
A few days later the bank will inform the victim that the check bounced. Now, the victim is responsible for the thousands of dollars they sent away.
Protect yourself from this scam by remembering you never have to pay money to get money you have supposedly won.

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'I had won $8.5M': Valley woman shares warning signs to avoid sweepstake scams
Deborah never entered a sweepstakes to win
ABC-15 Arizona - Jun 20, 2024
https://www.abc15.com/news/let-abc15-know/i-had-won-8-5m-valley-woman-shares-warning-signs-to-avoid-sweepstake-scams

"They were from Publishers Clearing House, and [said] I had won $8.5 million," Deborah recalled.
That's a life-changing amount of money! With millions in the bank, Deborah said she would pay off the houses of everyone in her family and donate funds to local hospitals. That is, if she really was a winner.
There was one giant, glaring catch to her new millions - Deborah never entered a sweepstakes to win.
"The bells and whistles went off in my head. I said, 'this is a scam.' And it was," said Deborah.
She says the caller spoke with an accent and occasional broken English. That put her on alert. Then, when explaining how Deborah would collect her winnings, she said the caller told her she would be responsible for paying a portion of the taxes before she could collect the funds.
"I was supposed to go to CVS and buy a money pack scratch card for $99," Deborah explained.
Being asked to pay for your winnings and to use a pre-paid, loadable card or gift card are all red flags that a scam is occurring.
Fortunately, Deborah spotted the warning signs. She eventually blocked the number and reported the scam to authorities. However, she's not the only person being targeted.
Let ABC15 Know viewer Vicki wrote to us after she received a similar call. The person told her she was chosen as a winner and would receive $5.2 million and a 2024 Mercedes vehicle.
The same goes for viewer Julie. Scammers told her she would have to pay to cover "shipping charges" to collect her winnings.
Julie wrote: "They want $9,000. They're willing to go down to even $400."
Meanwhile, viewer Halie wrote that her neighbor unfortunately fell victim to the scam. The neighbor did make an initial payment, only to be met with demands for more money by the scammer.
"It really bothers me that people fall for this because a lot of people can't afford it," Deborah said when asked about the frequency of scam calls.
She's right.
While Publishers Clearing House is legitimate, the number of scams using the name to con consumers is great. In fact, it happens so often that the real PCH has a warning on its website stating in part: "Publishers Clearing House does not operate this way and would NEVER ask for money to claim a prize. PCH employees would never contact you personally or in advance to notify you of a prize award."
If you receive a scam call, letter, or email, report it! Contact your local law enforcement as well as the Federal Trade Commission.
Publishers Clearing House is also fighting back against scammers. If you're contacted by an imposter, they want to know. You can fill out their report form online.

The CP2000 Notice - Unreported Gambling Income

The CP2000 Notice - How the IRS Detects Unreported Gambling Income: 9 Methods (2025-2026)
https://www.monacocpa.cpa/post/irs-gambling-income-detection-methods

The IRS Quietly Set a New Checking Account Limit in 2026 — Seniors Need to Check This Before August


AI has taken over the banking system. Deposit so much as 30% to 50% over your monthly income and a SARS report gets filed and a CP2000 report needs to be filled out. I've never heard of these before, but you need a gambling bank account with irregular deposits and withdrawals separate from your regular bank account with steady income to keep the SARs at bay.

A transaction requires reporting under the terms of this section if it is conducted or attempted by, at, or through a casino, and involves or aggregates at least $5,000 in funds or other assets, and the casino knows, suspects, or has reason to suspect that the transaction (or a pattern of transactions of which the transaction is a part):
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-31/subtitle-B/chapter-X/part-1021/subpart-C/section-1021.320
https://www.federalreserve.gov/frrs/regulations/section-1021320-reports-by-casinos-of-suspicious-transactions.htm

FREE Casino FINCEN / BSA Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) Software Training


Residential Real Estate Reporting: In light of a federal court decision, reporting persons are not currently required to file real estate reports with FinCEN and are not subject to liability if they fail to do so while the order remains in force.
Southwest Border GTO: FinCEN has issued a Geographic Targeting Order (GTO) to combat the illicit activities and money laundering of Mexico-based cartels and other criminal actors along the southwest border of the United States. Due to a court order, at this time, no money services business (MSB) under the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California is required to submit information to FinCEN pursuant to that GTO. These MSBs may, however, voluntarily submit such information to FinCEN.
https://bsaefiling.fincen.gov/

Annuity Failures on Big Jackpots

Annuity Failures on Big Jackpots
Lottery Winners Who Took Monthly Payments — Then They Stopped - -After The Jackpot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U02E5jJ0qnc


This narrator sounds like AI with occasional voice spasms.
Ready to collect monthly amounts, then the place where the money comes from gets frozen. It seemed like a good idea, but this problem has been around for decades in various instances, and you never see it coming. Take the lump sum and hope the bank doesn't go under or you owe half in taxes.

THE $1,500,000 GRAND JACKPOT!!! - TheOnTiltBoys

With what appears to be either $1 million or $2 million in session money for these videos, they try $5,000/spin.
$1 million / $5,000 = 200X bet
$1.5 million / $5,000 = 300X bet
$2 million / $5,000 = 400X bet
Just about every win is a self-pay hand pay, but for the ones that pay over $50K. They take their attendant hand pays in vouchers, typically $50,000 vouchers plus the change in vouchers. They don't really run the credit meter over $100K except for attendant hand pays. They just feed the machines voucher after voucher hoping that more attendant hand pays will bring them back to even. When you are counting up 20X $50K vouchers and chasing the Grand jackpot, I know I'd expect to lose it all. But these guys won it finally after two videos.

These videos have some foul language, so it is not classy. I mean you'd get suspended from school for this language. So don't press Play if you will be offended. Apparently this is where several other YouTubers hang out, so it's a competition out there to bet the most and score the biggest hand pays.
These two are playing just two machines, like it was a tournament; General Tso, and Queen Chiu.
The million dollar orb flew by a couple times but didn't land for a payout.
I only knew they were going to hit the Grand jackpot because of the title and it was near the end of the second video.
They were playing the $25 denom with a 4X multiplier on 50 lines.
At the $50 denom the Grand JP goes from $1 million to $2 million.
So they were betting within range of getting paid the Grand jackpot of $1 million at 200X-300X $5K.

WE HIT THE $1,500,000 GRAND JACKPOT!!! (PART 1) - TheOnTiltBoys - 190K subscribers - June 8, 2026


WE HIT THE $1,500,000 GRAND JACKPOT!!! (PART 2) - TheOnTiltBoys - 190K subscribers - June 9, 2026

Hold & Spin Explained - Gamble Smart

Hold & Spin Explained: How it Works - How I knew the Grand Was Coming! - Gamble Smart - 114K subscribers - June 14, 2026



PART 2: Hold & Spin: Why Big Balls Follow Big Balls + Showing the Rare Square - Gamble Smart - June 15, 2026


Grand Jackpot Slot video based off of post I made 2 days ago in my blog.

If there's more parts they will go here. I can't post the relevant screenshots from these videos, so push Play.