Sleaze Factor
29 March 2006 13:40![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vakkotaurSleazeball #1: K-Designers
A couple times now I've gotten a bit of advertising that is almost but not quite a postcard. It has a printed note that tries and utterly fails to look like a personal handwritten note, asking me to please call an 800 number in the next five days implying that waiting too long will mean I won't get a free, pardon me, FREE George Foreman Grill. It's from an alleged "Awards Coordinator" and lacks any return address.
Smells like a scam of some kind, doesn't it? It is. Googling for the 800 number reveals the scam. It's a means of getting folks to call them, thus bypassing telemarketing rules. Then they try to sell siding.
What amuses me is that I've gotten two of these, weeks if not months apart. Do they expect I'll be worried about missing another phony five day window?
[UPDATE: 22 AUGUST 2009
They have a new card now. It's still a "free gift, call us" ploy, but at least now the card has K-Designers' return address as an identifying mark.]
Sleazeball #2: MG2
A couple days ago there was a card in the mail and it looked somewhat like a state lottery scratch-off ticket. The gimmick is that if you uncovered numbers that made one of the winning patterns on the bingo cards printed on the thing, you had a chance of winning one of several prizes. There is also a bit of arithmetic to do so that it isn't a lottery as far the law is concerned. There is a number to call if one wins.
So far it's just strange, but there is also the fine print. Unfortunately for sleazeballs I am both suspicious and literate. The catch? If you call the number, you play and players "agree to a demonstration of an MG2 home care product." There is, of course, "no obligation to buy" but really, expect pressure even if it is not stated outright.
These sleazy come-ons are amusing in a sad way. I am amused that someone thinks I'll fall for this crap. I am rather depressed that there are probably enough folks who will fall this crap that it will be considered worth the effort and expense. If someplace must resort to this level of sleazy advertising, doesn't that say something about the value of what they offer?
[UPDATE: I got another card, this time I posted scans of it. (IJ: scans) -- 25 June 2007]
[ADDENDUM: This company (MG2) uses a few names, at least in Canada. Those names are: Tri-Star Vacuum Sales & Service, Star Industries, MG2, Star West, 114225 Alberta Ltd, and Supreme Air. Source. -- 29 July 2009]
[ADDENDUM: Today, 11 August 2009 at 3:37 PM Central Daylight Time, I received a phone call from someone at Supreme Air (according to the Caller ID [IJ: Caller ID photo]), claiming to be a lawyer named Mark Wahlberg representing Tri-Star.[1] He claimed to be calling to confirm my address[2] so he could send a registered letter about a libel action in regard to this post.[3] He insisted that I had posted a claim that the company was acting illegally, but would not say where or how I had done so. He claimed "to be reading the web page" and then claimed he had "read it four times today and didn't need to read it again" yet could not point out the alleged actual claim.
I doubt very much that this is any coincidence with the spate of anonymous replies from IP 75.158.95.1 made by someone claiming to be Bill Duncan.[4] Such replies generally have attacked others here who have posted anything critical of MG2/Tri-Star/Supreme Air/etc. I cannot say for sure that it is the same person, but it is difficult to believe this is coincidence.
When I told a lawyer friend of mine about this call and went into the details there was disbelief that any lawyer would have to call someone to confirm their address. When I pointed out how bogus the name seemed I got the reply, "That's fraud. Possibly wire fraud, if he used the phone." and "If that was a lawyer calling using a false identity...um, bar disciplinary committees tend to take a very dim view of that." Considering the nature of the call, I very much doubt that "Mark Wahlberg" really is a lawyer at all. "Pretending to be a lawyer is arguably the practice of law without a license, which I think is a misdemeanor, but also fraud."
Thus the attempt to intimidate me regarding this post actually is an illegal action. Before that call, everything here only mentioned shady ethics and morals. I even pointed out that the arithmetic on the BINGO card was specifically to comply with legal requirements. But now I can factually state that someone at Supreme Air has committed fraud in an attempt to intimidate me. Obviously, that attempt has backfired with this addendum.
UPDATE: 2011 AUGUST 04 - It has been at least several months since this post has gotten any non-spam comment. I am getting several spam comments each week and am tiring of them. If LJ had a mechanism to restrict comments to registered users that could be used on an individual post basis, I would use it. As LJ does not have such a useful thing (and I have some reason not to disable all unregistered comments for the entire journal) I am now locking this post from further comment, at least until such time as a more refined means of spam-prevention (rather than recovery) becomes available on LJ. Spammers and spambots will not have this particular avenue even if the only one to see the result is me as I delete the offending crap. To any legitimate would-be commenters, there are other, related posts I am not (yet) locking down. Sorry for the inconvenience.
[1] Really? Mark Wahlberg and Tri-Star? See what you get when do a search for that: Mark Wahlberg Tri-Star. That's not a very imaginative alias.
[2] And did so by asking for Mark, evidently forgetting that was his own alias. I happen to have a friend who is a lawyer and so I asked him about calling a party one is about initiate a legal action against to determine their address: "He *phoned* you? That's not standard practice."
[3] I asked my friend about this as well and pointed out the "offending" post (this one) and got this reply: "Pfffffffffffffft. Libel action, for this? Rubbish. I think any lawyer would love to put him into deposition and show samples of the firm's ads and such. What does this mean, or what does that mean...."
[4] Or is he Steve Johnson? Check out Steve's profile page and note the date of creation and how many updates (posts) have been made with the account.
-- 11 August 2009]
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no subject
Date: 29 Mar 2006 21:55 (UTC)Like all the candy bar and cola contests that require you to submit your name and address and email before telling you that you didn't win. Now they can sell your info to spammers, wheee!
Vacation places offering "luxury cruises" for $99 which are actually ferry rides.
no subject
Date: 29 Mar 2006 23:57 (UTC)I work for K-Designers
Date: 14 Jul 2006 21:54 (UTC)I assure you K-Designers isn't a scam... we've been in buisness for 27 years and we're the #4 home remodling company in the US.
That card is just a ploy to get people to listen to our sales pitch. That's all. You really CAN get a free George Forman grill if you want one. :p
Take care. Hope this puts your mind at ease!
no subject
Date: 15 Jul 2006 02:25 (UTC)It fails the duck test. So, I maintain it is a scam (http://vakkotaur.livejournal.com/316895.html). Perhaps I should call the card an example of scamvertising.
MG2 Homecare Products
Date: 25 Jul 2006 20:53 (UTC)Re: MG2 Homecare Products
Date: 5 Aug 2006 19:09 (UTC)cards" in our immediate area..and yes, like yours....they must surely be winners as they all have "boxes" on them!!!!
Like you, I'd love to know who the "creative" mind is behind this scam!!!!
Re: MG2 Homecare Products
Date: 5 Aug 2006 19:58 (UTC)It seems that they aren't on the web at all, at least under that name. MG2 is so generic that a search for it gets pages of things that are not whoever these jokers are. I was surprised that when I just searched for "MG2 Home Care Products" the only result was my own entry. That makes me think these guys are fly by night. Not only do they not seem to have any web presence themselves, the only people even talking about them have done so right here.
Re: MG2 Homecare Products
Date: 11 Aug 2006 02:50 (UTC)And yours is still the only link I found for MG2 homecare products.
Re: MG2 Homecare Products
Date: 17 Aug 2006 21:01 (UTC)The only thing is, mine has NO number to call!
It says call the "contest hotline" within 72 hours but there is
absolutely no phone number on there.
Re: MG2 Homecare Products
Date: 24 Aug 2006 00:29 (UTC)As far as MG2 products - the fine print says "All residents of the USA and Canada...eligible to win except...prior EXL or MG2 promotion winners..." Google "EXL or MG2" and you'll get tons of links, mostly on eBay, for vacuums and parts for vacuums. This Bingo card replaces the 'ol door-to-door vacuum salesman! Ah well, at least the card is easier to get rid of! It's a lot harder to throw a guy in the trash :-)
no subject
Date: 24 Aug 2006 01:22 (UTC)Vacuum cleaners, huh? Well, it fits with the promotional method, which sucks.
Re: MG2 Homecare Products
Date: 30 Aug 2006 17:35 (UTC)no subject
Date: 7 Sep 2006 22:43 (UTC)I 'won' it seems (got the square patten, which should be the hardest and thus the best prize... uh-huh). Though I'm not finding any other links to the company online, and I notice they have no 'contact' besides the phone number (which they have stamped with a local number and area code).
Thanks.
I got a 'box' on second card too!!
Date: 12 Sep 2006 18:15 (UTC)The winning numbers on mine were (starting from NW corner of winning box, going clockwise):
B1 I29 N39 G54 o61 o68 o70 o75 o66 G59 N34 I24 B3 B14 B12 B12 B8
Let's compare cards... definite fraud if they're the same, and someone should then call the cops on these jokers.
Re: I got a 'box' on second card too!!
Date: 16 Sep 2006 02:31 (UTC)Re: I got a 'box' on second card too!!
Date: 19 Sep 2006 22:49 (UTC)Atleast scratching the bingo card was fun for about 1 minute :p
Chalk up another suspicious Calgarian
Date: 20 Sep 2006 21:38 (UTC)Got the box on #2 card, with all the same numbers listed above.
I like this little disclaimer on the front of the card: Over 1 Million in Prizes* ... *Available at outset of game; available prizes diminish as prizes are awarded.
Stuffing this puppy in the trash.
Re: I got a 'box' on second card too!!
Date: 22 Sep 2006 16:22 (UTC)Re: I got a 'box' on second card too!!
Date: 22 Sep 2006 18:56 (UTC)It is not really fraud - just a cheap trick - and perfectly legal - until some one says else wise. It might be against OLG rules and regulations for lottery and gaming.
What is interesting about the back is that it states "Winning" Combinations - since when should "Winning" be in quotes? This identifies that you are not really "Winning".
Oh-well - I am sure it must be working for them - card is dated 2005 - meaning some poor saps are falling prey to this marketing technique!
It's just like spam - it will keep coming until people stop responding to it!
bingo scam
Date: 24 Sep 2006 00:28 (UTC)Re: MG2 Homecare Products
Date: 24 Sep 2006 19:33 (UTC)Re: bingo scam
Date: 5 Oct 2006 18:14 (UTC)This is a good site. I'll bookmark it.
Re: bingo scam
Date: 5 Oct 2006 22:58 (UTC)Re: bingo scam
Date: 8 Oct 2006 06:42 (UTC)Sleazeball #2: MG2
Date: 11 Oct 2006 15:26 (UTC)