Examples Of Mail Order Scams

After spending the last few months investigating certain types of mail

order businesses, it was obvious that some of them were border line

questionable, if not a verifiable scam.

EXAMPLE 1 Collect names for us. We pay $20 each. Guaranteed!   

The truth is, this company WILL pay you $20 for each name you collect for

them. What they DON'T tell you is that each person has to spend $100 or more

by placing an order before you get your $20.

The customer is led to believe that all they have to do is get out their

phone books and start sending the company names and addresses. In return,

the company will send them $20 for each name and address they send them.

When they send away for the details they discover the scam and think

everybody in mail order is operating this way. Result: Mail order is labeled

as a scam and illegal business activity.

       

EXAMPLE 2 "How to get 100,000 people to send you $10 each. Send $10 to..."

This is cute advertising, but you have to put a legitimate product behind

claims like this. One of the materials I found was a book with this title.

And you get the book for sending $10 to the publisher. Some so-callede

seasoned pros will abruptly judge this as a scam. To some extent, these

people are not pros. They're just jaded. For mail order neophyites, this

is very intriguing. Besides, it only costs $1 to find out.  What the

beginner finds out is that they are expected to run the same ad in

newspapers and tabloids. Other people will send $1 for information and

their mailbox is "supposedly" flooded with $1 bills. This ad is NOT illegal.

It asks you to send $1 for information and you DO get the information.

These types of ads are all a bunch of paper-passing _ and I classify them

under the heading of a "Legitimate Scam." You can't complain that your order

was not filled. You can't complain the idea is not possible. You can't

complain the ad promised something it didn't deliver.

      

Likewise, do not confuse scam-sounding ads with legitimate lead-generation

ads." A mail order buddie of mine will run an ad that states: "Want to make

a lot of money? Call (his telephone number.)" This is NOT necessarily a

scam or rip-off. Since there is no cost involved _ it might be worth your

time and effort to call the number and see what this dealer has to offer.

Also, some dealers run ads that don't tell you what the product is because

they have an entire package of information they want to send you. It would

be too costly to advertise the complete information in a small 1" or 2" ad,

so they run "Lead-Generating Ads" to bring them inquiries. This is also

not illegal and is common business practice. You'll also find that real

"Lead-Generating Ads" DON'T ask you for a lot of money up front. They only

tell you enough about the product to entice you to send in a SASE

(self-addressed stamped envelope) or $1 for more information. They are

unlike the "Example 2" at the left that basically tell you the scam before

you order it! (It may take a little time for you to make the distinction

between these fine lines.)

Many people overlook the power of the printed word. Instead of complaining,

people should be writing their mail order publishers when they are

ripped-off, providing them with documentation and a summary of these mail

order scams.

Use wisdom. Get your facts straight. Have documentation to back-up your

findings and submit them! Wouldn't it be great if everybody in the world

were honest? What a wonderful world this would be!