Scam Alert: Magazine Solictors & Mail Theft

We just had another door-to-door magazine solicitor come by, despite our glaringly large NO SOLICITING sign on the door. This is probably the fifth time in the past year. This is a scam! Please do not buy magazines from these people! If you already purchased a magazine, you have 72 hours to cancel the order.

The article >Campbell residents warned about mail thefts by Cathy Weselby appears in both the Campbell Reporter (page 6, April 11, 2008) and the Mercury News.

Here's an excerpt:
"The East Campbell Avenue neighborhood has had a lot of magazine solicitors lately," Dehaan said. "I wouldn't say that door-to-door solicitors are responsible [for mail theft], but there have been instances where salespeople go through a neighborhood and most of them are not licensed or permitted."
Dehaan said the solicitors are usually groups of youth who are dropped off in neighborhoods and will tell residents that they're raising money for a trip or for at-risk youth.
"If you see these solicitors, notify the Campbell Police Department, and we will verify if they have a permit or license to solicit door to door," Dehaan said.

Contact the Campbell Police Department's non-emergency line at (408) 866-2101.

>Solicitors also may be casing your house to see if there's anything worth stealing. Magazine solicitors were responsible for two separate rapes in 2005, one of an 80-year-old woman in Menlo Park and another of a 74-year-old woman in San Jose.



This post has been edited by mobyfan on Apr 14 2008, 06:22 PM

The same can be said of some other door to door sales or service. I remember a couple of years ago there were people going around as county inspectors. I can't remember what they were supposed to be representing, but there would usually be two people. One would distract the resident with a sham inspection and the other would go about stealing stuff.

However... we do like our Clark Pest Control guy. He's one service guy who came door to door that we don't mind.

I was so preoccupied with the magazine soliciting that I completely forgot to mention the mail theft warnings. The article explains why you need to be aware of your mail and make sure you mailbox is secure. I always take outgoing mail to the post office and absolutely love our mailslot. No one else can get our mail. There are people who steal mail from mailboxes in hopes of finding checks and gift cards. They may also be stealing your identity (they rifle through trash cans and recycling bins to get your info as well).

This post has been edited by mobyfan on Apr 14 2008, 06:56 PM

When I was a kid, I used to open other people's mailboxes to see what was in them. My mom caught me doing this one time and told me they'd cut my hands off if I was ever caught... so I stopped looking at other people's mail.

NPR did a story on the value of identity theft about a couple of weeks ago. There are black markets where stolen credit cards and identities are bought and sold. The average price for a stolen credit card? Guess?

If you were thinking cheap, you may be right. If you thought VERY CHEAP, you're even closer. It's $.40! It wasn't always like that. Identity theft and stealing of credit cards is so common now, the competition to sell your stolen information is driving the price down on the black market.

The other reason for the lowering prices is that anti-fraud outfits are getting better at stopping or preventing fraud from happening so there's a lower likelihood that any stolen credit cards can be used for much.

Some while ago, I also remember hearing that stolen World of Warcraft logins actually fetch a higher price than a stolen credit card. At $.40 a card, I guess it's not that hard to beat.

QUOTE (Sheldon @ Apr 14 2008, 06:39 PM)

When I was a kid, I used to open other people's mailboxes to see what was in them. My mom caught me doing this one time and told me they'd cut my hands off if I was ever caught... so I stopped looking at other people's mail.

Too bad that doesn't deter everyone...

I just read that credit cards would be much more secure if they would require we enter a PIN every time we use it. It seems like a simple solution. Although this was from an article that said crooks were stealing data while IN TRANSIT, which is unusual. So it stands to reason that anyone would be able to steal a PIN while in transit as well. I can't remember where I read it, otherwise I'd post the link. Most crooks are not going to be as sophisticated though.

I am also concerned about my mail privacy and I didn't want my roommates to go thru my mail so over twenty years ago I got a post office box. All my mail is locked and secure for $34/six months at the post office. It also helps for business when people send checks. I don't have to worry about someone stealing them. And my mail is always there after ten am. Now you even have twenty four hour access. They don't lock the lobbies anymore. All we get in our residential mailbox at home are ads. I highly recommend it.