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TALLAHASSEE, FL - Attorney General Bill McCollum today joined 31 states and the District of Columbia to announce a stipulated supplemental judgment with a New York sweepstakes company. The Judgment was filed in Pinellas County court today and modifies the terms of a prior judgment with Publishers Clearing House in 2001.

Earlier settlements with Publishers Clearing House (PCH) resolved allegations that PCH was mailing promotional materials designed to mislead consumers into believing that purchases would increase their odds of winning prizes. After reviewing recent consumer complaints and PCH promotional materials, investigators determined that consumers could still be confused by the nature and language of some of the company’s subsequent sweepstakes promotional mailings.
The supplemental judgment includes additional conditions to ensure consumers are not further misled or confused by the company’s sweepstakes promotions. The terms of the new settlement also greatly increase the number of customer surveys that PCH is required to conduct to ensure that consumers understand purchasing does not increase their chances of winning a sweepstakes prize. The company agreed to pay $3.5 million dollars to cover the total cost of the states’ joint investigation.

In addition to Florida, the states participating in the settlement include Oregon, Nevada, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Colorado, Vermont, Alaska, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Arizona, District of Columbia, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.

A copy of the judgment is available online at: http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/KGRG895LAD/$file/SupplementalConsentJudgment9-9-10.pdf