Today (Feb 03, 2014) my voice-mail box was called by "Tom Parker" from "the Publisher's Clearing House" to deliver to me a "certified cashier's check written from the Bank of America for 950,000 U. S. Dollars".  The call raises numerous red flags.  (i) I never enter PCH Sweepstakes.  (ii) The check has to be delivered "today".  (iii and iv) The caller will deduct the tax; translation: to receive my $ 950,000, I must send a check to the caller for some innumerable thousands of "U. S. Dollars" (a term for dollar used outside, not inside, the U. S.).  (v) The caller's "toll-free number", viz, 876-593-4162, is not from a toll-free area code, but from a Jamaican area code.

(876) 296-5290
876 296 4290
Jamiaca

recv'd call from this number fron man stating he was representibg publishers clearinghouse with a check for 950k waiting for me at a location. He could not verify my address or identity when I asked.

definitely a scammer...

Call came from 876 289 8068

I think this is special high phone call $ rate from Kingston Jamaca

Caller said call 876 593 4162 and ask for Manager Morgon

I don't know how they found my cell phone number:

I got the exact same call words as previous two posts.
 1) Caller said he needed personal information to verify a $950k PCH check from Bank of America. SCAM!
 2) Exact same call as previous poster. Caller said he needed personal information to verify a $950k PCH check from Bank of America. SCAM!

My grandmother got a telephone call from this number not too long ago from a guy who claimed his name was John Baker from Publishers Clearing House and that she won a jackpot.  In order to get the jackpot, "John Baker" wanted my grandmother to withdraw $500.00 from her bank account and he told her that someone would go by her house to pick it up.  She was also told that she could send the money to an address in Alabama that, upon further research, we found out did not exist.  Another time the guy called, he said my grandmother had won a new car.  The guy did not steal any of my grandmother's money.  He stole her identity when he somehow got access to her social security number and activated the online banking feature on her account and he tried to make two automatic payments using her account, which the bank stopped immediately.  The guy then tried to call me and pull the same stuff with me, but I knew what he was up to and I did not give him any of my information.  As a result of this scum bag, a police report have been filed with the local police department and the appropriate fraud reporting numbers have been called.  Be aware of this scam.

I keep getting calls from 876-404-2531, of course they have called dozens of times and the first time I answered I said I wasn't interested and they yelled at me, wow!  Now they say they are coming to my house to deliver a prize and to call them, I said ok.  Ya, right! No way am I going to call them back, I just want them to stop harassing me.  this is rediculous that it won't stop.

"paul caesar" from hard rock wants money to send prize- is calling from jamaica scammer also connected to john baker 876 470 6424

Let me speak with Mr.************...I asked what is this in referance to....He said Publishers Clearing House...I said, my parents aren't interested, and loss the number...He called back, Let me talk to him, you are not the home owner, I told him he was harrasing us n now I will call the local authorities...I hung up...He called back and said, when was the last time I had a ****  in  my ****....I screamed at him and hung up.....He called back again, and my mom screamed at him....He called back again, He said that he was going to come over and RAPE me...I hung up...he called back again, I screamed at him...hung up...he called back again, I hung up, no words....He called back again, I answered and hung up....finally I called the local authorities and they said come down to the station and fill out a report....oh, by the way, I star (*) 69 the number....I called the phone company....end result, It is our government who should pass a bill that does not allow the 876 area code numbers to call us....they prey on people to get money, it is a SCAM....there should be something done about it.....

I received the same kind of phone call several minutes ago. I was told that I won 2.5 million dollars and a 2011 Mercedes or some type of fancy car. When I asked for the person's name again he told me Johnny Baker and I asked for his number, he gave me 18764690231. Then I asked him what position he holds at Publishing Clearing House, he stumbled a bit and then said "Secretary". I asked him where is he located and he said New York. I asked "If I call Publisher's Clearing House they will confirm that you work there?" He said "Yes". When he went over the gifts I "won" again, he told me I will have to pay a refundable fee to have the gifts sent to me and I started to laugh. He asked "Why are you laughing?" I said "Because I don't trust you and I don't believe you." He said "Okay, since you don't believe me go and call Publisher's Clearing House and then call me back." I told him, "Ok." Then I hung up.  

These calls are an annoyance and a waste of time. My biggest concern is for some elderly and naive people who are easily scammed. Other than that, sometimes it's fun to deal with these scammers - escpecially when you are looking for diversions from college coursework.

Anyway, I went to the PCH site and there were FAQs about scammers, including a warning that PCH does not ask for fees, etc to claim gifts so that's a tip off.


Regarding the poster "Elaine", I don't think the answer is to block the 876 area code in the United States. There are scammers in the USA too. And these scammers can be many places. I've encountered one on eBay; we all know of the famous Bernie Madoff who used the American Stock Exchange to scam many people. Now what if other countries began to block the area codes these American scammers live in? What if the area code they block is yours because (unbeknown to you) you have a scammer living next door using some website like eBay to scam people in Canada, Switzerland or Germany? Why should innocent people who live in the area be demonized and punished for the crime of some con artist(s)?