Guess the “check’s in the mail” (still)??…

I’m finishing the Attorneys General letters today and was realizing I’ve actually been fairly productive in dealing with the National Readers Service scam. They’ve agreed to close her account and have refunded her money (only once though….the check never arrived LOL), and I’ve even been able to encourage others with unresolved complaints against this company to report them to the Federal Trade Commission, the Attorneys General, and the Better Business Bureau through this blog. Enough individual reports…and they can’t stay under the radar!!

Hopefully National Readers Service understands it is not worth the entire “$1297.32 account” for the “$425.00 worth” of subscriptions that they intended to scam my kid into buying to forget their agreement with me. In my mother’s words, “Now they are on My List and better have enough sense to remember it.”

A few interesting things I’ve learned about scams:

1. Scams are rampant with so many different schemes it is almost unbelievable. Magazine scams, in particular, made the 2008 overall top ten list and the 2009 top ten telemarketing scams.

2. There is an absolute WEALTH of good information out there which could prevent all of us from ever getting scammed in the first place. I’m willing to bet, however, that hardly anyone finds it before the fact. (I‘ve been surprised by theNRSscam blog's traffic strictly from “newbie postings” on National Readers Service complaint boards leading to a Google ranking. Within four months, visits from all 50 states plus Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, Hong Kong, and Honduras!)

3. It isn’t just our elderly parents getting scammed … it’s our kids too. More than that, our kids don’t just get scammed into buying magazines; they get scammed into selling them too!! The Better Business Bureau, National Consumers League, and others have listed door-to door sales job warnings for teenagers for many years now. (See these eye-opening stories from Parent Watch for another perspective of the door-to-door sales scam.)

4. The majority of people scammed never report it- perhaps from embarrassment, being unaware they’ve even been scammed, being unsure of where to begin, or just being relieved to get off a scammer’s hook and never thinking of the next victim. Reporting fraudulent business practices may protect us all. File complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, the Attorneys General, the National Consumers League, or the Better Business Bureau. 

5. Even if you’ve forgotten about them, they never forget about you and may contact you later about “lapsed grace periods”, “remaining balances”, or whatever. (So much for the relief of getting off the hook!!) Scam companies also sell “lead lists” lists of previously defrauded persons complete with names, addresses, phone numbers, and the $ amount of their last fraudulent transaction to other scammers. The assumption is once a victim, always a prospect. (I’m just wondering if there is a “too much trouble to mess with” list. If so, I’d like to be on that one. LOL)

6. Blogging is a constructive diversion for anger and an interesting way to share with others what I've learned. (It’s actually fun too. I’m almost tempted to try something else, but I’m afraid my lack of blogging expertise together with my interests would generate an audience of two at most. LOL.)

Post links with my entire NRS experience are here.

Thanks for visiting the NRS scam blog. Hope something here is helpful.
Good luck to all of us!! D/