WebVetted ™ Beta
+ New Report

Domain Due Diligence
Report for Pch.com

Report Date October 2, 2025
Recommendation
Caution
Overall Summary
Suspicious
Why we think so

pch.com is the high-traffic website for Publishers Clearing House (PCH). The domain is long‑standing (registered in 1994) and hosts legitimate sweepstakes and games with ~24 million monthly visits and a U.S.-heavy audience. At the same time, regulators and tens of thousands of consumers have complained about misleading marketing and hidden charges; the FTC extracted an ~$18.5M refund settlement and the company later filed for bankruptcy-related restructuring. In short: this is a real, established brand with documented consumer‑harm issues — treat offers and purchase prompts with caution. 🛡️

Confidence Score
55%

Risk Insights

⚠️

Real brand, real problems

pch.com is a legitimate, long‑running site with heavy traffic and registered trademarks.
At the same time, regulators found deceptive practices that led to a major consumer refund program.
That mix makes the site trustworthy as an organization, but risky for consumers responding to purchase prompts.

Contradictory Signals

The site is clearly a real, professionally hosted service, yet its marketing practices have harmed consumers; high legitimacy doesn’t eliminate consumer‑facing risks.

Signal A: High technical and traffic signals (Akamai, AWS, DigiCert, ~24M monthly visits)

Signal B: Regulatory enforcement and large refund settlement for deceptive marketing

Category Scores

Identity 90/100
Reputation 30/100
Technical 92/100
Content 70/100
Legal 25/100
Business Validity 40/100

Red Flags & Warnings

  • FTC found deceptive marketing practices and obtained ~$18.5M for harmed consumers.
  • Multiple consumer reports and investigations show users losing money via confusing purchase prompts and hidden fees.
  • Bankruptcy/financial restructuring noted in news sources, which may affect prize obligations and refunds.
  • High prevalence of third‑party impersonation scams using the PCH brand (fake calls, checks, sites) increases user risk.
  • Aggressive marketing and numerous ad/monetization technologies suggest the site cross‑sells products that have generated complaints.

🔎 Detailed Checks & Analysis

Identity – domain & ownership

Score: 90/100
Passed

"pch.com is an established domain with registration records dating to 1994 and clear registrar entries; ownership aligns with Publishers Clearing House corporate addresses."

Reason: Long-registered domain (since 1994) with corporate WHOIS records and U.S. registrant addresses.

Reputation – complaints & enforcement

Score: 25/100
Failed

"The FTC obtained a large refund settlement (~$18.5M) after finding misleading emails and hidden charges; thousands of consumer complaints and press coverage document harm."

Reason: Regulatory enforcement and many consumer complaints alleging deceptive marketing and billing.

Technical – hosting, TLS, DNS, SPF

Score: 92/100
Passed

"The site uses Akamai CDN and AWS hosting, has a valid DigiCert certificate and explicit SPF/MX records, which reduce risk that the primary host is a phishing page."

Reason: Professional infrastructure (Akamai, AWS), valid DigiCert TLS, and comprehensive DNS/SPF records.

Content – site experience & monetization

Score: 68/100
Failed

"Site content matches the game's/sweepstakes business, but many ad/marketing technologies are present and have been tied to consumer confusion about purchases and entries."

Reason: High-traffic sweepstakes and games content but heavy ad/monetization integrations and reports of confusing purchase flows.

Legal – trademark & compliance risk

Score: 30/100
Failed

"PCH holds multiple live USPTO trademarks, confirming brand legitimacy, but regulatory actions and settlements indicate legal/compliance risk for consumers."

Reason: Strong trademark ownership but recent FTC findings and settlement show compliance failures.

Business validity – operational & financial status

Score: 40/100
Failed

"Traffic and activity remain high, yet reported financial distress and restructuring reduce confidence in long‑term promises such as lifetime payouts."

Reason: Site remains operational with large traffic, but news of bankruptcy/restructuring introduces uncertainty about payouts and business continuity.

Your Next Steps

  • 1
    If you were asked to pay fees to claim a PCH prize, stop and verify: contact PCH via addresses listed on info.pch.com and do not send money.
  • 2
    If you purchased from PCH and believe marketing was deceptive, check eligibility for the FTC $18.5M refund and follow FTC guidance (link in citations).
  • 3
    Treat unsolicited calls, emails, or social messages claiming you’ve won as likely scams; confirm prize notifications using official site contact pages before sharing personal data.
  • 4
    For high‑value promises or lifetime payouts, seek written contract terms and legal advice — recent bankruptcy/settlement activity can affect payouts.
  • 5
    Report impersonation scams to the FTC and your local law enforcement, and forward suspicious PCH‑branded messages to PCH’s fraud reporting page.

Evidence & Citations

🕵🏻 Keep investigating

Recommended →
🌐 Vet another Website

Run another instant due diligence scan on any domain. Verify before you subscribe or shop!

Vet suspicious ticket resale websites

Scammers clone legitimate ticket exchanges or invent resale hubs that require wire transfers and Zelle deposits. ScamAI...

Read playbook →
Debunk fake news and review aggregators

Pseudo-news portals scrape legitimate outlets, tack on fake star ratings, and funnel traffic to shady merchants. ScamAI...

Read playbook →