Publishers Clearing House scams: you don’t pay to win

From Scams, in the HARD wiki · Updated 8 Nov 2026

A call, letter, text or email saying you’ve won a Publishers Clearing House prize but must first pay a fee, tax or delivery charge is a scam.

PCH’s official rules say it would never require any money, tax or fee to collect a prize. Scammers ask for it anyway, by gift card, wire, money order, crypto or a cashier’s check, or send a fake check and ask for part of it back. Publishers Clearing House changed hands in 2025 and now runs as PCH Digital; the scam carries on in the old name.

PCH is a US sweepstakes and its site only opens in the US. Elsewhere the same call names a national lottery or a foreign one; the FTC notes it’s illegal for US citizens to play a foreign lottery.

What it looks like

An example written by HARD, not a real message. Real ones change wording often.

Call from a caller who says he’s from the Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol

Congratulations, you’ve won $2.5 million and a new Mercedes. The team is on the way to you on Friday. Before we can release the prize, you need to cover the $1,850 insurance and tax fee. Please don’t tell anyone yet, it’s company policy until the cameras arrive.

Check the one you got

Paste what you were sent. HARD checks it in this browser with the same rules as the Is this legit? check in its apps. Nothing you paste leaves this page.

The message to check

How to tell it’s fake

“never require any money, tax, fee or payment be made to collect a prize”
Publishers Clearing House official rules

You have to pay to collect.: Real prizes are free, as the FTC puts it. Fees, taxes and insurance up front are the scam.
It says how to pay.: Gift cards, a wire, Western Union or MoneyGram, a reloadable card, crypto, or a cashier’s check by express mail.
A check arrives with instructions.: Deposit it and send part back for fees: the check bounces days later and the money you sent is gone.
It came by phone.: PCH’s rules say winners are notified by mail, email or in person. A call asking for money is not PCH.
Keep it secret.: Being told not to tell family or the bank is how scammers stop someone talking you out of it.

If you clicked, called or paid

Stop paying.: Every “last fee” leads to another one.
Call your bank or the payment company now.: Your bank for a transfer or check, the card company for gift cards, Western Union or MoneyGram for a wire. Ask them to stop or reverse it.
Don’t deposit a check they sent.: If you already did, tell your bank it’s a likely fake before you spend or send any of it.
Report it.: At ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and to your state attorney general. If someone then offers to recover the money for a fee, that is another scam.

If it was your parents, read Look after your parents, and if a card number or password has gone, Breaches explains what each kind of leaked data lets criminals do.

The official way to check

Ask whether you paid to enter or collect.: If the answer to collect is yes, it isn’t a real prize.
Contact PCH yourself.: Its current site lists [email protected] and the rules on pch.com, typed in yourself.

Someone on the phone asking for money right now? Guides has the two-step answer. More scams by name are on Is this a scam?, and new ones reach the Situation Room.

Questions

Does Publishers Clearing House call winners?

PCH’s rules say winners are notified by mail, email or in person, and that it never requires money to collect a prize. A call asking you to pay is a scam.

Do you have to pay taxes up front to get a PCH prize?

No. PCH says it would never require any money, tax or fee to collect a prize.

I paid a Publishers Clearing House fee. Can I get it back?

Call your bank or the company you paid through straight away and ask them to reverse it, then report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to your state attorney general.

Sources

Sources checked on 7 Nov 2026.

Publishers Clearing House: Official rules, read 7 November 2026: never requires money, tax or fees to collect a prize; winners notified by mail, email or in person; PCH Digital under new ownership since 15 July 2025.
FTC: Publishers Clearing House imposters keep coming, updated 28 June 2022: the real PCH never charges a fee; wires, reloadable and gift cards, fake checks.
FTC: Fake prize, sweepstakes and lottery scams, September 2025: real prizes are free; fake checks; foreign lotteries; report to the FTC and your state attorney general.
Iowa Attorney General: Bird warns of sweepstakes scams, 17 July 2025: a fake PCH winner call that led to upfront fees and taxes.