As Seen on Oprah....??

MAKE $250,000 IN WEEKS AS SEEN ON OPRAH AND 20/20. Well, I don't know that anyone is making anywhere near that amount on this pyramid scheme, but the mailing list sellers are cleaning up and the U.S. Post Office is making up for some of the money lost to emailing.

My husband and I have received this chain letter 4 times in the past week. People are really gullible (or desperate). Ignoring the fact that these chain mail schemes are illegal, this one is also expensive. They aren't asking you to send this to 10 friends but to hundreds of people. And they provide addresses to mailing lists that cost from $30 to $625 depending on how many people you want to send to. You have to photocopy 6 pages of propaganda. Then there's the postage. It costs $183 to send this mailing to 300 people at $.61 per envelope. No, Oprah hasn't endorsed this scam. And those promoting on the web and using Paypal to collect their money are being shut down as Paypal discovers them.

My husband recently answered a nuisance phone call which offered him a "free" month of restaurant and travel coupons. He knew he'd have to remember to cancel the subscription before the month was up or be charged $30 but he thought we might get a few usable coupons out of the deal. He didn't give anyone a credit card number but in 2 days we had 2 charges for $2.95 for P&H and later another charge for $1 for a "free" subscription to US Magazine. The offers did arrive but no coupons were enclosed, only instructions on how to subscribe on their website. But when trying to bring up the website my security program tells me that it "can't confirm that your connection is secure" and advises I don't go there. I wonder how many people have paid the $6.90 for this scam. And, yes, I've canceled the credit card they were able to access without anyone giving them the number.

Lastly, as an online retailer I'm always looking for new ways to market my products. Recently in the Etsy forums someone mentioned the Facebook Marketplace as a way to increase traffic. It's a free service so I've listed 5 or 6 items with a link to them on Etsy. And it's true that traffic has doubled and even tripled in some cases though this hasn't yet brought me a sale. What has increased is the number of scammers wanting to buy my products. This week alone I've had 2 requests for jewelry but the customers want to pay with a Western Union money order and will actually send more than the item costs. As usual the emails are written by someone for whom English is not their first language. And they want the item asap and ask that I return a check for the overage so they can pay for a "private delivery service". What's wrong with the post office?

For those of you who aren't aware, a Western Union money order can be faked. And if you deposit a fake one in your bank, it can appear to clear, so you ship. It can sometimes take awhile but you will be out the entire amount of money order plus your merchandise. If you have to take a money order, the ones from the Post Office are much safer. For all the complaints about Paypal, it's the safest way to get paid.

As Sgt. Esterhaus would say, "Be careful out there."