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Publishers Clearing House / PCH.com

Publishers Clearing House / PCH.com review: winning is a joke 37

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I and many of my friends have played the pch lotto games for many years... never once has any of us won a single thing. we want to know if this is a legitimate site or simply a scam. we are all becoming very frustrated by this and would like to know how to determine if this is legitimate or just a way to lure us into buying magazines.

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37 comments
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Nickygoodgirl
, US
Aug 17, 2021 3:17 am EDT

They're not a scam Publishing Clearing House is has legit has legit gets. However odds of winning is harder then winning the lottery, but sense free and suppose to be fun it's good to spend your extra free time. Those choosing to use data from phone to play or buying from PCH are choosing to on their own no need to buy anything or waste data if use tablet with WiFi or computer. Just won five bucks recently and been close several times with winning games top token scorer. So just have fun and if annoyed do something else, like bingo at the local town hall.

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Denniesue
Fort Morgan, US
Sep 17, 2022 12:47 am EDT

Good idea. It's supposed to be fun, a way to use free time and not do anyone harm. A big however:

Games and entering PCH's money takes untold time and it's addictive. Ask my husband. It's caused us harm in that I am failing to complete necessary duties because I'm too much on task to win. I think I'll do more winning by putting myself on a PCH diet.

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Danny Johnson
, US
Dec 14, 2018 1:11 pm EST

I "won" a $20 Amazon gift card. It took almost two months and several chats with PCH's so-called customer service to receive the pin # to activate it. They of course claimed they had already sent it but I have kept every email from them and guess what? - nothing. Last week I got the PIN # in a curt and what I feel rude email. But at least I got it.

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bluegrassbanjo
, US
Aug 10, 2018 4:24 pm EDT

I've now played PCH and PCH Search for 10+ years. Honestly, I never expected to win anything. I spend about 15 to 20 minutes each evening entering this contests. No big deal. But now ...times up. I have millions of tokens saved from their games and even bid millions of tokens for their measly gifts on the redemption site. NEVER won anything! Of all the many scratch-off games I played, I got butkis. I truly believe this is a joke. In the next few minutes I am going to offer 20 million tokens for one of their chincy prizes. Let's see what happens. If I win I'll let you know; if I lose I'll surely let you know.

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Carolyn Cr
Baltimore, MD, US
Apr 08, 2022 2:34 pm EDT
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You spend 20 minutes playing each evening? I am retired. I play at least 8 hours a day and have won numerous times - not hundreds or thousands of dollars, but I've won $130 total. I play for my own enjoyment - and to win, of course. (I used to pay a gaming company a monthly charge for the privilege of playing their online mahjongg game, with zero chances to win anything, ever.)

My first PCH win was $10. At that time, I was still working and only played in the evenings. I was very excited about my $10 win and thought, "If I can win $10, then I can win $100," and later I did.

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Anon232
, US
Jun 30, 2018 12:58 pm EDT
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Don't you people read the fine print and understand "chance"? You don't have to buy anything from them, and all winnings are by chance and random luck. There is NEVER a guarantee of winning. I have been playing for almost twenty years. The only thing I have ever won is $10.00, but that doesn't matter to me. I play to have fun. If you go in to this expecting to win your retirement, you need to come up with a different plan. This site offers no guarantee of winning anything. Wow, even just look at the regular old lotteries. Sometimes they have no winners for a while, and, when they do, it is by chance and random luck. Get over yourselves.

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Carolyn Cr
Baltimore, MD, US
Apr 08, 2022 2:41 pm EDT
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Replying to comment of Anon232

I so agree with you! All people need to do is read the information that is on practically every page. (Just read the small print below the "Submit Entry" button, for instance!) I play for fun and also to win, and I have won $130 total, to date. My first PCH win, which was $10, was about 5 years ago. So, since then I've won another $120.

I understand that the online games are, (with the exception of the Daily Tournament games, to some extent, it seems,) NOT skill based. The PCH online games are governed by an algorithm, somehow. That's fine with me. Otherwise, with 10s or 100s of thousands of people playing every day, PCH would be giving out $10,000 and $100,000 prizes every day - and very soon there would be no more PCH! I'm tired of these complainers.

Nora Bunch
Nora Bunch
Weatherford Texas, US
Oct 16, 2016 4:46 pm EDT

I agreed with yall on winning because i have been playing this for many years now because i get something saying im a winner i fill out and send it back and they come back once again telling me im not a winner and want be getting it and it has happened to me more then a couple of times now and i am begging to think that they tell us we are winners and turn around and keep the money for there self there and i probably not the only one they do it to either are they ain't nothing but scammers to here because its not far to me are anyone else they done this to out there thats probably why they all have good money because they take it from all of us here well i got that out here because it needed to be out here so everybody knows what they are doing to people like me and other people to so thank all of you for listens to me on this thank you all again
nora bunch and god bless you all here

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Bill Hood
, US
Oct 08, 2016 7:30 pm EDT

I agree 100%. They are a scam, has anyone ever met, seen or even heard of someone winning anything from PCH. Only on their site, mailers and commercials, no news stories or proof of any kind of anyone ever winning something from PCH.. PCH IS A BIG JOKE !

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Carolyn Cr
Baltimore, MD, US
Apr 08, 2022 3:55 pm EDT
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Replying to comment of Bill Hood

YES, I am a real person - a woman who retired in 2020 from doing office work at a large university. I have no association at all with PCH.

I have played PCH online games for about 6 years, and I have won a total of $130. I won a $100 prize and received the check in 5 or 6 weeks. I received the $10 and $5 checks about one week after winning. For me, getting $100 in the mail when all I did to get it was play games is NOT a "joke."

If you want to see winners of larger prizes, check the "winners" tab on the PCH games site and you can watch the videos. Please note that the odds to win the very large prizes are quite high - much higher than the odds to win a state lottery.

You could have found all this out by simply reading the information that PCH makes readily available on its website AND in its mailings.

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Aleta Wentzell
, US
Aug 07, 2016 9:20 am EDT

Every time I play the slots they don't stop spinning and then a screen comes up oops there seems to be a glitch. Sometimes they barely move. I totally agree. It's nothing but a joke and a way to get people to buy their junk, not to mention all those ads popping up all over the screen really screwed up my computer. I unsubscribed to their sight.

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Carolyn Cr
Baltimore, MD, US
Apr 08, 2022 2:43 pm EDT
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I agree, the slots games don't seem to work very well consistently. I very seldom play the slots. To me, they're boring. I play almost all their other games, though, and I have won money.

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Pamela De Baun
, US
Jun 07, 2016 10:30 am EDT

Most of these complaints display such illiteracy that it is difficult to even read them, so I have to believe the authors are not the brightest bulbs in the pack. Anyone who plays these games on their phones using their data has no one to blame but themselves if they have overages. That is just patently stupid. The odds of winning in the sweepstakes are clearly posted. If you do not read them, that is on YOU, not PCH. Sweepstakes winners are announced on I believe CBS, so I doubt they are going to engage in *the scam*...I believe the sweeps winners are real. However, I do NOT believe the slots winners are real, I think that is just a ploy to keep you on pages with advertising. The slots are a waste of time, I agree. I used to not concern myself with the tokens end of it and only did the sweepstakes, but now I do the scratch offs so I can try to win one of the physical prizes. It costs me nothing and it is fun. If I win, I win, if I don't, I still had fun. These complaints are ridiculous. This site costs you ZERO to use. If you are buying things and expect that to cause you to win something, you are not reading any of the IMPORTANT information here and that is also on YOU.

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Danny Johnson
, US
Dec 14, 2018 1:13 pm EST

Baloney.

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Carolyn Cr
Baltimore, MD, US
Apr 08, 2022 2:52 pm EDT
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I'm absolutely with you all the way. Sometimes I feel as if trying to educate these folks on it is like talking to a turnip - BUT then I remember my very sweet and very smart mother, who - in her later years - called me and said she thought she had won a large amount of money. Turns out, the literature just said that if she entered, she had a chance to win.

I'm not going to lie: When the companies send something in bold print saying, "YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY WON!" and such, I know they aren't lying outright. (I guess they already know the winning number and are just waiting for the winning person to mail in the form.) But it can be misleading to people who have 1) failing eyesight; 2) decreased understanding due to age; or 3) simple lack of education and/or critical thinking and observation skills.

Still, I HAVE won several times and I get frustrated with folks piling blame on PCH.

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Vermo
, US
Apr 23, 2016 3:39 pm EDT

You people do know that the chances of winning are lower than winning the lotto, right? If you play for years or a lifetime, you not winning doesn't make it not real. Millions of people play. Plus, you losing money is actually your own doing because buying that crap never increases your chances. There are going to be hundreds of thousands of people that never win anything. If your phone bill goes up, also on you for doing it on your phone. Go to a free Wi-Fi spot and just enter their sweepstakes their. The local news wouldn't report it if it wasn't real and they wouldn't have been around for decades if it wasn't either. It is so much harder to win PCH because you don't have to pay to enter like the lotto, which then most are wasting their time because most are not going to see anything results ever. Sorry to say, but it's common knowledge.

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earnhardtjrfan
, US
Mar 15, 2016 9:20 am EDT
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I have played for years and I have not won and do not know anyone that has won and doing searches and playingthe games are time consuming and don't have time to play them at all at times with busy scheduale between work home and kids. People I think that this is a joke even when they tell you that you are close to being a winner. I am sorry but I think they s is all a big joke. They lie to people.

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Carolyn Cr
Baltimore, MD, US
Apr 08, 2022 4:01 pm EDT
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News flash: If you don't have time to play the games then... don't play them! Who do you think is forcing you to play? Don't complain about PCH when you are the only one making the choice to play. Just like the state lottery, winning is not guaranteed. PCH does not have a mandate to let YOU win.

They don't lie, at all. They put ALL the truth out there, and people just don't (or can't?) read the information.

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G.ruscitti
, US
Mar 08, 2016 4:36 am EST

Ive been playing for almost 30 years and have not once won anything i get fake emails from danielle lam on twitter saying i'm a winner and then their asking private info your social security number and then nothing happens further no check no money just more lies and desseption i all ready contacted the new york FBI saying i got defrauded by these people i wish they would be arrested and charged with fraud im sick of these stupid games that there is nothing but techical errors and the game your half way threw and suddenly it goes back to square one for no reason i'm sick of danielle lam scam i really hate all of them.. this is a first class scam

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reddreads
, US
Sep 10, 2015 4:02 pm EDT
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Pch is the biggest scam of all time. They are a joke. The "winners" they show on tv are paid actors. No real person has ever won 1 damn red cent from these vultures. Throe out all of their material from junk mail in your pc to the junk you get from snail mail. If the entire country would wake up and ignore them for just 1 week, they would go out of bussiness and be exposed as the frauds they are.

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Jazzer65
, US
Jul 03, 2015 1:32 pm EDT

Annoying waste of time. Absolutely a joke, duping people into thinking they may win, setting false hopes and expectations. Praying on people who look for hope is abominable and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Pch is pathetic.

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Treneicia Holmes
Tacoma, US
Apr 28, 2014 12:50 pm EDT

I've been playing PCH for at least 17 1/2 yrs, and I haven't won anything yet. Pretty sad to
realize that so much time and effort put forth for nothing.

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steve jokes
Clearfield, US
Apr 08, 2014 4:17 pm EDT

i think they check peoples income and give it to most people who do not need i think its just to make the magazine publishers to keep them in business selling products and magazines

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JayMainer
, US
Nov 30, 2013 10:24 pm EST

I have tried several times to win and so has my family infact 4 generations of my family has tired and that's from 1960's till now which is 2013 so it's about 53 years of trying in my family don't believe them in their contest it's rig just like their games are one time it stop on a thousand and then the wheel jump to an entry mmmm real funny how it change on me. I just wish that I could have video tape it cause I would have hire me a lawyer and sue them showing that the game is rig.

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brandyman
Fenton, US
Apr 08, 2013 9:21 pm EDT

I feel the same as the rest, that they are a scam, I just wonder if anyone has filed a lawsuit against them. If they are legal how do you find out if they really give out the money. It sure seems like that is a lot each year, that means they sure make a lot of the juke they sell, It sure don't add up. Just how in the world do you find out for sure.

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coldsaber
, US
Jun 14, 2012 6:12 pm EDT

everything ou buy from pch is pretty much from China. PCH is heping to support the China take over of this USA as well as slumbama.
It is a no win scam. Besides that it is just another way to distract people from what is really important.

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XJEAN68X
TAPPAHANNOCK, US
May 01, 2012 6:31 am EDT

THE SLOTS GAMES ARE RIDICULOUS! THE GAMES TAKE WAY WAY WAY TOO LONG TO LOAD I DON'T WIN JACK BUT I SURE AS HELL HAVE OVERAGE FEES ON MY PHONE BILL EACH MONTH!

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howie72
, US
Apr 16, 2012 12:25 pm EDT

pch is a scam, please do not buy anything from them

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howie72
, US
Apr 16, 2012 12:23 pm EDT

i agree pch is a scam, please dont buy anything from them

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romtecman
Gainesville, US
Feb 25, 2012 1:18 pm EST

make me a winner and i will be your friend for life...
$10 mil please

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Alex Machado
Miami, US
Feb 05, 2012 5:31 pm EST

Remember people, this is a free country freedom of speech. You can post anything and get away with it

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Alex Machado
Miami, US
Feb 05, 2012 5:30 pm EST

Well I have a friend that works in the news station for channel WFOR 4. Im pretty sure this is a scam I for one am going to stop buying and responding to this ridiculuos mail crap i've been recieving

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vb55
Fairfield, US
Jan 29, 2012 2:00 am EST
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well iv played for 3 yrs now never won a cent neither. i think this slots game is a joke also.who wins on there? or do they just find peoples names to put down as they won. i want out of this slot game. for me its a waste of my time. for i dont see no one winning nothing on there.

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streaki
Eugene, US
Dec 08, 2011 9:00 am EST
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Well they film the big winners of the mega bucks. Can that really be fake?

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danallen
Jones, US
Nov 26, 2011 3:07 am EST

I agree! In all the years of dealing with PCH, all it has done is cost me! I do not personally know of ANYONE WINNING ANYTHING from PCH. Sure, they can post winners, and advertise winniers, but does anyone actually know anyone, that has won anything, from PCH?

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Eric Carr
, US
Oct 17, 2018 1:07 pm EDT
Replying to comment of danallen

They MAY have once been legitimate, but look at all the "winners." Nice homes in nice neighbourhoods, ready for TV appearance, never heard from again except spotted as extras on PCH commercials... Obviously fake. Not a "scam, " as they don't require money to "enter."
Any contest entered primarily by the poor that is "won" 100% of the time by a rapidly vanishing "middle class" is obviously fake.

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Eric Yoder
, US
Dec 07, 2018 3:38 pm EST
Replying to comment of Eric Carr

You may not have to pay but they still drain your data and I'm pretty sure they scan devices for crypto currency and other information while you're on their site or apps. Ask yourself why it takes so long to load their pages when there are other sites loaded with ads which seems to load quicker than PCH. They only dispense tokens to fool people to replay their games and make them ad revenue. It's all about their pockets.