By Matt Gephardt
Produced by Michelle Poe
(KUTV) MURRAY, UTAH -- Laura Plain says she loves to travel and would love to see more of the world. To afford it, years ago, she says she decided to take her chances and sign up with the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes.

“I have told my kids often that when I win the Publishers Clearing House we're gonna do this and this and this,” Laura says.

The prize company is real and occasionally people do win. In fact, three years ago the company surprised a woman in Bountiful with a $10,000 prize.

So when Laura's phone rang this week she says, at first, she thought she had hit the jackpot.

"He said that I'd won this prize of $1.5 million," Laura says.

But Laura got suspicious, after all the real Publishers Clearing House is nothing if not a marketing machine.

“If it's publicized, they come over to my house with the news crews, I'll know it's real,” Laura says.

When the caller told Laura she would need to wire a couple thousand dollars in fees, she says she knew it wasn't legit.

Laura decided to Get Gephardt.

Publishers Clearing House is well aware of the scam using their name. On their website they even spell out that "there are no strings attached to winning,” and that, “Our prizes are delivered free of charge."

As for Laura, she will have to save her money to travel the world. She did not fall for this scam, thanks she says to Get Gephardt reports like this one.

"I always watch your program and your dad's program and you've always warned us that if it sounds too good to be true it is and that if they ask for money, absolutely it is a scam," Laura says.
 
(Copyright 2012 Sinclair Broadcasting Group)
Scammers Pose As Prize Patrol