A Fairbanks woman narrowly avoided falling victim to a scam artist who told her she had won the Publisher’s Clearing House sweepstakes.
Barbara Reed says she regularly enters, so at first believed a caller Monday who said she had won $350,000 and a red Mercedes.
She tells the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (http://bit.ly/1tioyTb) the man even asked if she wanted the media present when the prizes were handed over.
There was one catch. The man said Reed would have to go to wire him $490 to claim the prize.
She did, but stopped payment after calling Publishers Clearing House and learning the company notifies its winners by mail or in person and doesn’t require payments.
Lt. Matt Soden of the Fairbanks Police Department says similar scams pop up every few months.
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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com
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