San Diego, CA.
Your check is in the mail, but you better not cash it or
you might discover you have inadvertently signed up for a
new magazine subscription, long distance telephone service
or Internet service provider.
It is exciting to get money in the mail. More and more
companies, including some of the giants of the retail
industry, are using so-called checks in the mail to lure
unsuspecting consumers into cashing them and unwittingly
signing up for some service which brings about more
expense.
The checks are in fact real and they will not bounce, at
the bank, however, they come with many conditions usually
contained in the fine print on the front and or back of
the check, that you may regret agreeing to when you
endorsed the check for cashing or a deposit.
AT&T has been sending out $35 checks to people who switch
their telephone service from AT&T to another service
provider. The $35 is an inducement to get those customers
to come back to AT&T. To their credit, AT&T does put a
disclaimer on the front of the check, unlike many others
who use this direct mail pitch, which clearly states that
signing and cashing the check will switch your long
distance, local toll and local services back to AT&T.
There are more important details on the back of the check,
but cash hungry consumers may not take the time to
discover the new things they may be signing up for be
cashing the check.
The word to consumers, young and old is: caution! Once one
of these so called checks is cashed, it will be very
difficult to reverse the new services you may have
unintentionally ordered.
The consumer's best defense against this type of marketing
tactic is to read the fine print and don't expect free
money for nothing, because if it sounds too good to be
true, that AT&T or some other company is sending you $35
because they like you, then it probably is not true.
For more information on how to avoid consumer scams visit
the ICFE at www.icfe.info
To receive the same information by mail, please send a
self-addressed, 60 cent, stamped envelope to the ICFE,
Avoiding Scams, PO Box 34070, San Diego, CA 92163-4070.