We’ve all seen the television ads: The Publishers Clearing House — or PCH — “prize patrol’’ shows up unexpectedly at someone’s front door bearing balloons, a giant check, and the happy news that the person has won millions of dollars.

Many of us have spent more than a few minutes daydreaming about what we’d do if we were the lucky recipient.

Recently, however, scammers have been taking advantage of these instant wealth fantasies. They are calling people, falsely informing them they have won a PCH sweepstakes, and explaining that money must be sent to cover vague “fees’’ or “taxes’’ before the prize can be claimed. In some cases, the scammers are even using the names of real PCH employees whom you might have seen in one of the TV spots.

In another version of the con, fraudsters send a fake “partial prize’’ check and ask the recipient to cash it and return some of the funds. When the forgery is discovered, the person who cashed it is left on the hook — the sender has long since disappeared with the money.

Both PCH and the Federal Trade Commission have been receiving many complaints about these schemes. The most important thing to know is that no legitimate sweepstakes company will ever require you to send money to receive a prize. So as soon as you hear such a request, hang up and report the call to local law enforcement and the FTC.

Also, PCH never breaks the good news over the phone, according to the company’s fraud prevention page.

Those who have won a major prize – generally $10,000 or more – will either be informed by mail or surprised in person in the classic PCH style. Winners of smaller sums may receive an e-mail.

An important caveat related to all of this: It is true that PCH will never ask for money, and that buying any of the company’s products is not a requirement to enter or win a sweepstakes. But PCH is a business and it definitely wants you to become a paying customer.

To that end, entering its sweepstakes online is a complex and confusing process intended to pull you into PCH’s many offerings, games, and contests.

Expect to be bombarded by product offerings, advertisements, and attempts to sign you up for mailing lists along the way.

Just keep your consumer savvy wits about you.

Have a consumer question or complaint? Reach Sarah Shemkus at seshemkus@gmail.com.