CHARLESTON — Residents of West Virginia are still falling for a scam letter that alleges state officials are involved in the award of sweepstakes prizes.
According to West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, additional cases of the so-called Publishers Clearing House scam has been reported across the state, and residents need to be on the lookout for it.
Several people have fallen for the scam since the first alert was issued by Morrisey’s office in June.
At that time, a fake letter with the state seal of West Virginia, supposedly signed by Gov. Jim Justice and bearing the attorney general’s name, surfaced. It claimed that Morrisey flew to New York to meet with the Board of Directors of Publishers Clearing House to negotiate the prize for the recipient of the letter.
There was no such meeting. Morrisey and Justice are not involved in the award of prizes through Publishers Clearing House.
Morrisey said scammers have been known to use familiar names to lure consumers into a false sense of trust and acceptance which leads them to give the scammers money to claim a supposed prize.
“I want to reiterate the importance of looking for warning signs such as unusual word choices in the letter or improper grammar,” Morrisey said. “Most importantly, never give money to a scammer or allow them to…
