This letter wasn’t what it appeared to be.

A Tamaqua man discovered the letter he received from Publishers Clearing House stating that he won $1.6 million was really a scam.Jeremy Lawson was skeptical about the letter when he received it in mid-February, but decided to call the number on the letter anyway. After all, it did claim he was a second-place winner.The letter instructed him to contact a claims manager by the name of John Gibson before depositing the enclosed check. The check was supposed to cover insurance and attorney fees, the letter stated. It also made a somewhat alarming demand.It stated, “As required by Federal and State laws, your security code and prize information must be kept strictly confidential which means,you are precluded from discussing your win with third parties. This is to reduce risks of unauthorized access to your claims information.”Lawson called the number and spoke to Gibson, who he recalled had a thick, foreign accent. Gibson told Lawson to deposit the check, and then call him back to find out how much he would need to write a check out to the sponsoring company, ICRAVE LLC. Well, that’s where his conversation with Gibson ended.“By the time you’d find out their check bounced, your check would already be deposited,” Lawson said.Instead, he found a phone number online for Publishers Clearing House and called them. The real PCH told Lawson it was a scam. They don’t contact winners by letter or telephone, he was told.In an effort to make other people aware of the scam, Lawson contacted his bank and reported it. His bank, Wells Fargo, told him they would report it to their Fraud Department.James Baum, a spokesperson for Wells Fargo, couldn’t comment on this particular case, but said Wells Fargo then reports any discovered scams to law enforcement authorities.