A Cherokee County woman was recently called by someone claiming to be with “Publisher’s Clearing House” – telling her she’d won $2.5 million and a brand new car.

Not being born yesterday, the woman gave the caller some of his own medicine.

When he said he needed to confirm her address, she said “Okay.”; He said “You tell me what your address is,” – she replied “No, you tell me – the real Publisher’s Clearing House has my address.”

At that point she said the caller, whose phone number showed to be registered in Kingston, Jamaica, became irate and that’s where the conversation ended – as she slammed down the phone. She did what everyone should do in such a situation. Don’t even let the caller get to the point where they ask for money – because we all know that’s what was coming next.

There are some very simple, very important, rules to remember – when it comes to dealing with someone telling you that you’ve won something:

#1 – If you didn’t enter a contest, you didn’t win one.

#2 – If they say you have to pay ANYTHING prior to collecting your winnings – it’s a scam; it doesn’t matter what the excuse is or what they call it – a “processing fee”, “taxes”. “import fee”, whatever…don’t fall for it.

#3 – Never, ever give out any personal private information to someone who has called YOU that includes social security numbers, bank account numbers, credit or debit card numbers and so on.

#4 – Just because someone uses a recognizable name, such as Publisher’s Clearing House, it doesn’t mean they’re really with that company; remember, they’re trying to steal from you, so they don’t mind lying to you – it’s all part of the scammer’s job description.

And

#5 – If it sounds too good to be true – it usually is.