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TELEMARKETING

Be careful about buying things by telephone. You may be a target of those selling bogus products and services (especially if you are older). It's easy enough to fall prey since telemarketing fraud is a multi-billion dollar business in the United States. Every year thousands of consumers lose money to telephone con artists and their losses range from a few dollars to their life savings. To protect yourself when you get a sales offer by phone, follow these simple rules:

1. Don't buy by phone from unfamiliar companies.

• Legitimate businesses understand when you want more information about their offer or company.
• Always ask for and wait until you receive written material about any offer or charity. If you get brochures about expensive investments, ask someone with financial knowledge and whose advice you would trust to review the information provided.
• Always check out unfamiliar companies with the Better Business Bureau, the National Fraud Information Center, or other groups listed later under "For More Help." Unfortunately, not all bad businesses can be identified through these organizations.

2. Always take your time making a decision.

• Legitimate companies won't pressure you to make a fast decision.
• It is never rude to wait and think about an offer. Be sure to talk over big investments offered by telephone salespeople with a trusted friend, family member, or financial advisor.
• Never respond to an offer you don't thoroughly understand and never make your mind up just because a sales person is rushing you.

3. Never send money or give out your credit card or bank account number to unfamiliar companies.

• Be aware that any personal or financial information you provide to an unscrupulous individual or corporation may be used to access your credit and could even be sold to other unscrupulous entities.

COMMON TELEPHONE SCAMS

Prize Offers: You usually have to do something to get your "free" prize -- attend a sales presentation, buy something, or give out your credit card number. The prizes are generally worthless or overpriced.

Travel Packages: "Free" or "low-cost" vacations are often an expensive venture after considering all the hidden costs and problems with redemption. Often, you must pay a higher price for some part of the package, such as the airfare or hotel stay. The total cost may run two to three times more than what you had expected to pay or what you were led to believe. Another common problem with these packages is that you may never be able to redeem the package for travel, thereby losing all your money.

Vitamins and other health products: The sales pitch also may include a prize offer. This is to entice you to pay hundreds of dollars for products that may not perform as promised or are worth very little.

Investments: People lose millions of dollars each year in "get rich quick" schemes that promise high returns with little or no risk. These "investment opportunities" can include gemstones, rare coins, oil and gas leases, precious metals, and art. These investments turn out to be worthless or worth much less than what you paid.

Charities: Con artists often label phony charities with names that sound like better-known, reputable organizations. They won't send you written information or wait for you to check them out with watchdog groups like those listed later under "For More Help".

Recovery Scams: If you buy into any of the above scams, you're likely to be called again by someone promising to get your money back or "recover your loss." Be careful not to lose more money in this common practice. Even law enforcement officials can't guarantee to recover your money.

FOR MORE HELP

Before you buy from an unfamiliar company, check it out first with some of these groups:

• Better Business Bureau (BBB) Check your local telephone directory for the nearest BBB
• National Fraud Information Center (NFIC) Call toll-free 1-800-876-7060 Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST
• Check national charities with these groups:

Philanthropic Advisory Service
Council of Better Business Bureaus
4200 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22203-1804
Phone: 703-276-0100 http://www.bbb.org/

National Charities Information Bureau
19 Union Square West, New York, NY 10003-3395
Phone: 212-939-6300 http://www.give.org/

American Institute of Philanthropy
4579 Laclede Ave., Suite 136
St. Louis, MO 63108-2103
Phone: 314-454-3040

TIP-OFFS TO FRAUD

• You have to act "now" -- or the offer won't be good. For a product or a service, the urgency pitch may be phrased as "there are only a few left" or "the offer is about to expire." The bottom line is that swindlers often insist that you should (or must) make your decision right now. And they always give a reason.
• You've won a "free" gift, vacation, or prize -- and you pay "only" for "postage and handling" or other charges. While honest firms may promote free phone offers to attract customers, the difference with swindlers is that you generally have to pay some amount to get whatever it is that is supposedly "free." The cost may be labeled as a handling or shipping charge, or as a payment for an item in addition to the "prize." Whatever you receive "free" -- if anything -- most likely will be worth much less than what you've paid.
• You must send money, give a credit card or bank account number, or have a check picked up by a courier -- before you've had a chance to carefully consider the offer. A swindler may ask you for your credit card number - or, in most brash cases, several credit card numbers - for "identification," or "verification" that you have won something, or merely as an "expression of good faith" on your part. Whatever the ploy, once a swindler has your card number it is likely that unauthorized charges will appear on your account.
• You don't need any written information about their company or their references --Swindlers generally have a long list of reasons: "There isn't time for that," or "it's a brand new offer and printed material isn't available yet," or "customer references would violate someone's privacy." Even with references, be cautious, since some swindlers pay off a few customers to serve as references. The caller may also be reluctant to answer questions by phone - such as inquiries about the firm or even how and where you can contact the firm. The swindler may insist on contacting you "for your convenience" or to save you long distance charges.
• You don't need to check out their company with anyone -- including your family, lawyer, accountant, local Better Business Bureau, or consumer protection agency.
• You can't afford to miss this "high-profit, no-risk" offer. Except for obligations of the U.S. Government, all investments have some degree of risk. And if there were any such thing as a risk-free investment with big profits assured, the caller certainly wouldn't have to dial through the phone book to find investors!

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