Troy elderly couple loses more than $140K in Publishers Clearing House scam Victims told they won money, but had to pay taxes first Tags: Police: Publishers Clearing House scam swindled victims out of nearly $150K “Very unfortunate situation. Sometimes our scammers prey on the elderly. They get people to believe they’re going to get these type of winnings and they’re gonna do anything they can to get that,” said Sgt. Jason Clark with the Troy police Department. The victims received a phone call from a man claiming to be “Otis PeterBank” with Publishers Clearing House. They had had won over $2.5 million but there was a catch.