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Navy veteran warning others about Publishers Clearing House Scam

Posted at 2:59 PM, Jul 21, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-21 17:49:23-04

Virginia Beach, Va. - It`s a phone call many people, like Michael Klick, would be excited to get.

Publishers Clearing House on the other line saying you`re the winner of $3 million!

"I was really, really excited when they first made it sound good when they first started talking," Klick told News 3.

But he says something didn't seem right.

"They said they needed $350 to do a background check to make sure that I  was a United States citizens and then they needed to do all kinds of checks," Klick explained.

Those checks raised questions.

But Klick continued talking to who he calls a scammer, keeping notes.

He says the man has called --- both he and his caregiver more than twenty times since Monday.

And that's when he called police.

"They've been more of a nuisance. They kept on calling and calling and calling. We just can`t deal with it," Klick said.

According to the Virginia Beach Police Department this isn't the first scam report like this they've received.

The Federal Trade Commission says crooks defraud millions of people out of their money every year.

They offer these tip: don't pay upfront for a promise,  don't give out personal information, and do online searches about a caller.

Klick says he`s glad he was able to stay a step ahead of the caller.

He says he the callers likely got his phone number after he entered several sweepstakes online.