Dear Friend,
Greetings: I am a retired attorney. A few years ago a man came to me with a letter. He asked me to verify the fact that this was legal to do. I told him I would review it and get back to him. When I first red the letter my client brought me, I thought it was some "off-the-wall" idea to make money. A week and a half later we met in my office to discuss the issue. I told him the letter he originally brought me was not 100% legal. My client then asked me to later it to make it perfectly legal. I asked him to make one small change in the letter.
***
It goes on for another 2 pages about how if you send $1 to the 6 names on the list & you will make $800,000.00 in just 3 months. You pay for a list of names to send letters to. I KNOW this is a scam. I just can't figure out how I got it. It came to me at my married name (junk-mail tends to come to my maiden name), & it came to my actual house address. (My driver's license lists my PO Box & if you look me up at the DMV, the physical address is actually my prior residence...haven't had time to change it yet.) The phone & electric aren't registered in my name, they're registered to my husband. (There's not a water bill, we have a well.)
What I wanna know is: How did this come to me, with my correct name at my current physical address??? The 'person' who sent the letter is: Mr. Louis Jordan/1234 Shakespeare Avenue/Apt # 2E/Bronx, NY 10452
Also, a co-worker recently had someone slip this same letter under his door at his apartment building...Anyone hear anything about this??
They may have bought a mailing list from some marketing firm. Such are readily availably. Or they may have just walked down the street and dug through people's trash.
In any event, it's clearly an illegal Ponzi scheme, and should be reported immediately to the Postal Inspectors at your local Post Office as mail fraud.
Maegan
Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2004 | 11:09 AM
Maybe I can sue them for $800,000.00!
Emily
in Australia
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 | 10:20 PM
hello, I am not silly and i know this is not going to work, but i got a chain email that said i had to tell 46 people about it for a wish to come true. i do not know 46 people to tell about it so i thought if i put it on a forum 46 people or more will read it and my wish will come true! so thats what i am doing.
By the way, chain letters are ALWAYS illegal. Of course they tell you that THIS one isn't. You wouldn't participate if they didn't tell you that, right?
They've been illegal since at least the 1930's when they were very popular because so many people were looking for a quick way out of poverty and answered them, swamping the Post Office.
Shakespeare Ave. in the Bronx is a very unlikely place for an attorney to live. Unless he is a really POOR attorney, that is. It ain't exactly the high rent district.
Use Google Maps or some other service to take a look at where it is.
Maegan
in Tampa, FL - USA Member
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 | 03:02 AM
I looked it up, but it didn't tell me what the income base was for the residents on the street. In fact, I looked at it on a map & couldn't really tell much about it at all. Although, there is apparently a HUGE star in the roadway. Traffic must be Hell.
Winona
in USA Member
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 | 05:38 AM
I have recieved two chain letters this month, one from each sister in law (and was a book swap one, and one was a send three lottery tickets to each person one). I tossed them like I always do, and finally had to give them each a call to let them know to keep my out of it. These things are my total pet peeve.
Maybe a neighbor or co-worker gave them your address.
Maegan
in Tampa, FL - USA Member
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 | 06:50 AM
...I thought about that, but other than my manager (who isn't even the sort of person who WOULD do this sort of thing), none of my co-workers HAS my home address. Besides...I'd forgotten all about this, until CMG mentioned he lived on Shakespear Ave.
(hmm...I do wonder though, whenever I talk to people up north, they say "ave" instead of "avenue", this isn't true for everywhere, just for people north of Virginia...odd.)
Maegan
in Tampa, FL - USA Member
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 | 06:51 AM
..or rather, from what I've heard.
Phew. Didn't want to start a, Yes I do! No, I don't! sort of things here.
Bug
Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 | 05:36 PM
Maegan,
I got the exact same letter today in the mail, today. Anyway, I was curious, too, as to how they got my name and address and from what I can tell, the name they used to address me is the name I use when I sign up for online survey sites. I don't know which one it would be, though.
My letter came from Hot Springs, AR. The return address was handwritten while my address was printed out on mailing label.
Interesting. I didn't think paper chain letters still exist.
hcmomof4
Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 | 09:10 PM
FYI -- chain letters are not in and of themselves illegal. The illegality (hey, I'm not above making up my own words...) is in solicitation of anything of value. I can send a chain letter saying that if you do 10 jumping jacks and send a copy of this letter to 322 of your closest friends you will have less bad luck than usual, that is annoying, but legal. But if I ask for (fill in this space with something you consider to be of value) to guarantee that your luck will actually become favorable, that's crossing the line.
Maegan
in Tampa, FL - USA Member
Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2005 | 07:49 AM
Bug...Yeah, interesting enough. If I sign up for something on the internet, I usually indicate "Lynn" as my last name. Lynn is actually my middle name...I just like to use it, if I'm not really sure where the information is going.
Odd indeed. I still think I should have found out who sent it & sued them for $800k.
Bug
Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2005 | 02:59 PM
I did a search on this particular chain letter and apparently this letter has been going on pretty recently. As I went down the list of the search results on the 2nd page, I saw a link that directs to my local county's Division of Consumer Affairs. Apparetly, a resident of my county sent a copy of the letter she received to the Consure Affairs to report this recently. How funny!
There were also LOTS of sites that are actually trying to scam people with this exact same letter, but they ask you to get money from your paypal account. I hope no one falls for this..
You can maybe write back to the person who sent you, but you probably won't get a response, though.
Dreamer
Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 | 05:57 PM
I also recieved this same letter in April 2005. It was sent from Salt Lake City UT. I was very interested in the whole concept, but a relative of mine who works at the post office informed me it is illegal. Look up the postal inspector web page on google. You can't ask for anything of value. Too bad because it sounded like a fun diversion.
Also very suspicious of who leaks our information out.
By the way, chain letters are ALWAYS illegal. Of course they tell you that THIS one isn't. You wouldn't participate if they didn't tell you that, right?
They've been illegal since at least the 1930's when they were very popular because so many people were looking for a quick way out of poverty and answered them, swamping the Post Office.
From what I understand, the "Send-A-Dime" chain letters as had vogue around 1934-35 prompted the Post Office's taking umbarge @ such schemes, and continues to do so to this very day.
Ironic as it seems (in fact, a Postal Service employee told me this once), those promoting such chain letters may cite 18 USC 1302 (Sending Lottery Tickets and Related Matter) and 1341 (Frauds and Swindles) as "evidence" that such are "legal," but for some reason or another, choose not to include the texts of both laws as, say, an Appendix.
Another law such promoters choose not to mention (and for good reason) is 39 USC 3005, as explains the procedures where the Postal Inspection Service can conduct enquiries.
You can read the texts of all three laws right here on my weblog; provided as a public service in response to the likely comeback of "Five Reports" letters in due course.
Pal
in MN
Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2005 | 04:45 PM
I recieved the same letter you all are talking about.
Yes chainletters are illegal however the thing that makes the letter legal is you are offering a "service" and not soliciting a gift of money. I clearly states that when you send in you $1.00 to the six people that you enclose a note requesting to be put on their mailing list. Weather the list is real or fictious doesn't matter, that fact is that your are paying to be put on the list.
Kinda borders on the shady side but there is technically nothing wrong with it. It is no different than recieving a JC Penny catalog on a Wal Mart add in the mail.
