JCP JC Penney Merry Christmas America Promotion Tax Report Scam Internet

During the Holiday season 2012, JCP aka JC Penney run a "button" promotion. Any person could pick up a button at any JCP store and input a code on their website. In case of winning, a claim within 48 hours was required for a certificate/gift card to be emailed. The program ended on December 24, 2012.

Today, I received an email from JCP with a request to file 1099 Misc form for amount of $655, which is more than twice above the actual prize. They informed me that they needed to report that amount to IRS. Apparently, they are going to write off that bogus amount. However, there was a lot of invalid certificates and non-received ones after they had been claimed. I informed JCP about that issue back in December, they promised to get back to me, and I have never heard from them since (copies of my emails are still in my inbox). At stores, when presented a certificate, I was told it was already redeemed. The program didn`t run well, although I got some merchandise redeemed for those certificates. Bottom line-JCP claims a higher than actual amount of marketing money spent and received by an individual.