Calvin and Hobbes Got It Right

Pacific Magazine Billing Scam

 They’re at it again.....

Five years or so back there was an outfit known as the White City Scammers. They were notorious for sending magazine subscription solicitations that looked like bills. They ran into a variety of legal difficulties.  Their prices were always the "rack rate" for subscriptions, much higher than elsewhere.

Well, they or someone like them is back under the name “Pacific Magazine Billing.” If they are like the White City scammers, they will use a variety of names on their mailers.

They seem to particularly target the elderly, who may be more willing to pay what seems to be a bill without looking at it very carefully. Pacific Magazine Billing also has a poor evaluation from the Better Business Bureau. Reading the BBB file is entertaining.  There are lots of complaints, and Pacific Magazine Billing seems to respond to most by providing specious verbiage.

The AARP has a recent article on this type of scam. And the National Geographic has a long list of similar scammers.

Should you get anything that looks like this in the mail, beware!

In Praise of Uniqlo

If you’re not familiar with Uniqlo, pay a visit to a store if you have one in the area or visit the web site.  As a recent issue of The Atlantic noted, the company offers good quality clothing without logos:

“A person can dress sock-to-cardigan in the company’s wares without announcing herself as a devotee of the brand. In an industry as label-oriented as fashion, such anonymity would seem to be a detriment to success. Today, however, Uniqlo has more than 2,000 stores in 15 countries.”

I’ve been a Uniqlo fan since discovering it years back on New York’s Fifth Avenue.  I welcome a company that provides good clothing without logos.

Logos Becoming Uncool

The Wall Street Journal of 22 December 2016 has a fascinating article titled “Crocodiles (and Polo Ponies) Go Missing as Scalpel-Wielding Consumers Revolt.”  It reports that “Some brand-snubbing consumers will do whatever it takes to remove logos from their clothing and accessories.”

If you search for “removing brand logos,” you’ll find lots of pages on the subject.  There is even a Wikipedia page on “debadging,” removing logos from automobiles.  As the article notes, “Drivers are not being paid to advertise the brand so some decide to remove this commercial aspect of the vehicle.”

Avoid Remington Registry

Do an Internet search for “Remington Registry” and you’ll have no difficulty finding out what kind of scam artists they are. To start, try this Facebook page.   They purport to be an impressive source of biographies.

All "Registered in the Library of Congress” means is that they sent a copy to the Library of Congress.  I have no idea what they mean by “recognized in the New York Times,” but you can be sure the NYT does not use it for reference purposes.

They also lie in their material.  Their brochure states: “As per our phone conversation....”

They never talked with me.

Given that they have a gmail address, I assume this is a small group, perhaps even one person, who has found a profitable way of preying on the gullible.  The mailing address is a house at 22 Dellaria Avenue, Southhampton, NY 11968.  Since that’s an expensive neighborhood, I assume there are lots of gullible people who fall prey to this scam.

The only happy part is that they sent me a stamped return envelope, which will save me postage writing to someone else.

Stop Robocalls !

As technology developed to allow scoundrels to ignore the “Do Not Call” list I began getting two or three junk calls a day.

It turns out there are ways of stopping the crooks.  For those still with landlines, a company called Nomorobo has a system that blocks most robocalls.  It doesn’t work with every system, but  I have ATT’s Uverse and it works just fine with it.  I’ve hardly gotten a robocall in the last three weeks.  It’s free — they make their money by
 collecting from companies.

For those with cell phones, there are a variety of apps that well help block the increasing number of calls there.  I use Whoscall for the iPhone, but there are a variety of possibilities.

White City Scammers Lose to Oregon

There is good news on the magazine scams front.  The State of Oregon recently settled their lawsuit against the White City scammers for $3,000,000.

Since four other states have outstanding lawsuits against those scoundrels, more good news may be on the way.