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A telemarketing
fraud scheme often begins when you receive a postcard or letter in
the mail describing an appealing offer. To take advantage of the offer,
you're told to call a 900 number or a toll-free 800 number. When you
call, the telemarketer has a convincing sales pitch.
Protect yourself
from becoming the victim of such fraud by remembering the following
tip-offs, which will help you decide whether to deal with the promoter.
- The offer
sounds too good to be true. An unbelievable-sounding deal probably
is not true.
- High-pressure
sales tactics. A swindler often refuses to take no for an answer;
he has a sensible-sounding answer for your every hesitation, inquiry,
or objection.
- Insistence
on an immediate decision. Swindlers often say you must make
a decision "right now," and they usually give a reason, like, "The
offer will expire soon."
- You are
one of just a few people eligible for the offer. Don't believe
it. Swindlers often send out hundreds of thousands--and sometimes
millions--of solicitations to consumers across the nation.
- Your credit
card number is requested for verification. Do not provide your
credit card number (or even just its expiration date) if you are
not making a purchase, even if you are asked for it for "identification"
or "verification" purposes, or to prove "eligibility" for the offer.
If you give your card number, the swindler may make unauthorized
charges to your account, even if you decide not to buy anything.
Once that is done, it may be very hard to get your money back.
- You are
urged to provide money quickly. A crook may try to impress upon
you the urgency of making an immediate decision by offering to send
a delivery service to your home or office to pick up your check.
This may be to get your money before you have a chance to think
carefully about the offer and change your mind, or to avoid the
possibility of mail fraud charges in the future.
- There is
no risk. All investments have some risk, except for U.S. Government
obligations. And if you are dealing with a swindler, any "money-back
guarantee" he makes will simply not be honored.
- You are
given no detailed written information. If you must send money
or provide a credit card number before the telemarketer gives you
the details in writing, be skeptical. Do not accept excuses such
as, "It's such a new offer we don't have any written materials yet,"
or "You'll get written information after you pay."
- You are
asked to trust the telemarketer. A swindler, unable to get you
to take the bait with all of his other gimmicks, may ask you to
"trust" him. Be careful about trusting a stranger you talk to on
the phone.
- You are
told you have won a prize, but you must pay for something before
you can receive it. This payment can either be a requirement to
purchase a minimum order of cleaning supplies or vitamins, or it
can be a shipping/handling charge or a processing fee. Do not deal
with a promoter who uses this tactic.
If you have been
bilked in a telemarketing scheme in which the U.S. Mail was used, or
if you know about a scheme that should be investigated, inform your
local postmaster or nearest Postal Inspector.
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