Fraud Prevention

Sweepstakes Fraud Prevention

PrizeGrab.com is dedicated to its members' safety. PrizeGrab is a real sweepstakes website with verified winners every day.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of scammers and bad people out there. Immediately email fraudprevention@prizegrab.com if you think you've been contacted by a scammer or a victim of fraud.

Please read through the important information below! We want to keep consumers and PrizeGrabbers safe from frauds, phishing and other sweepstakes scams.

Help us take down the bad guys!

But wait!

We ask that all reports make it clear that PrizeGrab.com vehemently despises these imposters. Not only are they infringing on our trademark, but they are forcing innocent consumers into a terrible situation.

We hate that our PrizeGrabbers are being messaged or victimized by scammers. The entire PrizeGrab Team takes fraud prevention extremely seriously and we want to make your real PrizeGrab experience the #1 sweepstakes experience in the world.

5 Things You Need To Know About PrizeGrab.com

You NEVER have to pay to enter.
You NEVER have to pay if you win. No wire transfers or moneycard requests, period.
If you win, we ONLY contact you via email at the email address you signed up at PrizeGrab.com
If you win, we NEVER contact you via Facebook, social media, telephone or postal mail
When you sign up at PrizeGrab.com, you don't need to give your home address or telephone number so we don't have it!

Why We Hate "Phishing"

Phishing is the illegal attempt to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and sometimes, indirectly, money), often for malicious reasons, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

PrizeGrab.com does not have any part in phishing or other scams. And nothing makes us more mad than people pretending they are PrizeGrab.com in order to dupe PrizeGrab members into sending them money or giving away sensitive personal information.

How Do You Know You Really Won at PrizeGrab.com?

You'll receive an email from a Team Manager about a specific PrizeGrab prize you entered into
You have 5 days to claim your prize from the time you receive a winner notification via email, as per the Official Rules. There is no "immediate rush" to claim. Scammers may try to convince you otherwise
All our emails are from an "@PrizeGrab.com" email address
We never ask you to "pay taxes" or "pay shipping" or "wire money"
If you win a prize over $600, you have to fill out an affidavit & W9 as per IRS requirements. PrizeGrab.com uses this information to send you a 1099 at the end of the year (please Google "sweepstakes irs" or more information at this site: http://contests.about.com/od/taxesfinances/ht/sweepstakestax.htm).
When in doubt, just email us contact@prizegrab.com
Please allow up to 48 hours for us to respond to your inquiry

If you're not sure whether an email is from PrizeGrab.com, you can always contact us via our Contact page.

How to Identify A Scam

If someone contacts you saying you won but they ask you for money, they are not the real PrizeGrab.com!
If you do not remember entering the prize on PrizeGrab or seeing that exact prize on PrizeGrab, than anyone claiming you're the winner of that particular prize is a PrizeGrab imposter
PrizeGrab does not release the amount of entrants, or entries per prize, that information will never be provided during a prize claim or winner notification. If someone does provide it to you claiming you're the winner of that particular prize is a PrizeGrab imposter
A legitimate sweepstakes site like PrizeGrab.com never requires you to pay to claim a prize
Never give away any of your personal information including name, telephone, email, Social Security number, and especially bank account information to someone you don't know or can't verify

How to Identify the Real PrizeGrab.com on Facebook

PrizeGrab.com never contacts winners via Facebook
PrizeGrab.com and PrizeGrab employees are not permitted to reach out and "Facebook Friend" PrizeGrab members
The only Official PrizeGrab.com Accounts are our Official Company Fan Page https://www.facebook.com/PrizeGrab and our Community Manager, Hope Adams https://www.facebook.com/hope.adams.1257?fref=ts

IMPORTANT: see the Facebook URLs above. Anything besides these 2 URLs are scam accounts.

Identifying Scams on Facebook

Scammers have opened up fake Facebook accounts pretending to be PrizeGrab.com or a PrizeGrab employee. These fake accounts are not associated with the real PrizeGrab.com in any way!

PrizeGrab.com never notifies you on Facebook if you won. PrizeGrab.com never asks you to "pay" to claim a prize or "wire money."

If you suspect another Facebook account is a scam, follow the instructions below:

Email the URL of the scam Facebook account to fraudprevention@prizegrab.com
Do NOT provide any personal information to the scammer
Do NOT provide any bank account or wire transfer to the scammer
Report the scam account's photos and account using Facebook's instructions here: https://www.facebook.com/help/181495968648557/

Example of PrizeGrab Imposter Facebook Account:

It may look real, but it's a fake!

Identifying Scams on Twitter

The only real PrizeGrab.com Twitter account is https://twitter.com/prizegrab

Scammers have opened up fake Twitter accounts pretending to be PrizeGrab.com or a PrizeGrab employee. These fake accounts are not associated with the real PrizeGrab.com in any way!

PrizeGrab.com never notifies you via Twitter if you won. PrizeGrab.com never asks you to "pay" to claim a prize or "wire money."

If you suspect another Twitter account is a scam, follow the instructions below:

Email the URL of the scam Twitter account to fraudprevention@prizegrab.com
Do NOT provide any personal information to the scammer
Do NOT provide any bank account or wire transfer to the scammer
Report the scam account's photos and account using Twitter's instructions here: https://support.twitter.com/articles/15789-how-to-report-violations

Identifying Scams on Instagram

The only real PrizeGrab.com Instagram account is http://instagram.com/prizegrab

Scammers have opened up fake Instagram accounts pretending to be PrizeGrab.com or a PrizeGrab employee. These fake accounts are not associated with the real PrizeGrab.com in any way!

PrizeGrab.com never notifies you via Instagram if you won. PrizeGrab.com never asks you to "pay" to claim a prize or "wire money."

If you suspect another Instagram account is a scam, follow the instructions below:

Email the URL of the scam Instagram account to fraudprevention@prizegrab.com
Do NOT provide any personal information to the scammer
Do NOT provide any bank account or wire transfer to the scammer
Report the scam account's photos and account using Instagram's instructions here: https://help.instagram.com/165828726894770/

Identifying Scams in Email

We only email our members when they sign up at PrizeGrab.com
Emails only come from an email address "@PrizeGrab.com"
However, spoofers and phishing emails may appear from "@PrizeGrab.com". Look closely at the email source code, or verify its identity by contacting us at contact@prizegrab.com

What Should You Do If You've Wired Money to a Scammer?

Report it to the authorities immediately.

Remember PrizeGrab.com is NOT associated with anyone asking for money. Scammers are using the PrizeGrab brand name to trick innocent consumers. We sincerely ask you make this clear in the reports.

It is important that you maintain any evidence you have relating to your complaint. Evidence can include: screenshots of messages between you and imposter, URLs of imposter accounts, copy/pasted text of message threads (put into a Word document or text editor), telephone numbers of imposters, addresses of imposters, canceled checks, credit card receipts, phone bills, mailing envelopes, mail receipts, printed copies of websites, copies of emails, or similar items.

Every bit of evidence helps when it comes to taking down imposters.

Who to contact

FBI/ICC3 (Internet Crime Center): https://www.ic3.gov/faq/default.aspx
FTC (Federal Trade Commission): https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov
Police: Call your local police station to find out how to file a police report for internet fraud
Let us know: PrizeGrab.com's Fraud Prevention Team records all information about people illegally using PrizeGrab's name to fraud people. Email us at fraudprevention@prizegrab.com so we can record your situation and also report it to authorities.

Great resources to protect you

FTC: Jamaica-Based Wire Transfer Scams
Note: we've received messages from PrizeGrab members who have been contacted by PrizeGrab imposter accounts, asking the member to wire money to a Jamaica wire account
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2009/06/ftc-urges-consumers-report-jamaica-based-telemarketing-scams

CNN: If you win a sweepstakes, never wire money
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/27439114/

About.com: Fake Facebook Page Sweepstakes Scams
http://contests.about.com/od/facebookcontests/fl/Fake-Facebook-Page-Sweepstakes-Scams.htm

FTC: Scam Alerts (consistently updated)
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/scam-alerts