Earlier this week, a Windom police officer took a report from a local woman who said she lost money in to a scammer who claimed to represent Publisher’s Clearinghouse.
According to the report, the scammer informed the woman she had won a large sum of money through a Publisher’s Clearinghouse promotion. She was then told that in order to cover costs related to shipping her winnings, she needed to provide a gift card number to the “Publishers Clearinghouse representative.”
“It does not make sense for Publishers Clearinghouse to call and request money to send out the winnings,” said Windom Assistant Police Chief Cory Hillesheim. “It makes more sense for them to pay that cost out of the ‘winnings.’
“The bottom line is, if it seems to be too good to be true, it probably is not true.”
Hillesheim reminds area residents that the holiday season is a very busy time for scammers. People should be especially on guard for scams at this time of year.
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