Laura
05-20-2008, 10:45 PM
from SiLive.com http://www.silive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1211284806288210.xml&coll=1
A woman in need is victimized by magazine scammers
2 young con artists gain entry with a pitch and a smile
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
By STEPHANIE SLEPIAN
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Two clean-cut, college-aged women found the perfect target when they knocked on a Sunnyside door selling magazine subscriptions. On the other side was a developmentally disabled woman home sick from a day rehabilitation program.
She opened the door -- although expressly forbidden by her parents to do so -- because she thought they could have been friends of her younger sister. She let them in simply because it was raining on Friday.
By the time they left, the 30-year-old had written two separate checks totaling $210 for yearly subscriptions to US Weekly and EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly) magazines.
And while she was upstairs getting her checkbook, it seems the girls were downstairs unlocking the kitchen windows.
"Those windows are never unlocked," said the woman's mother who was advised by police to make sure nothing was missing from the house, including credit cards or mail. "I don't know what level they could go to with that."
A police source said it sounds like a variation on a scam that has been around for ages: Young, well-dressed, slick-tongued salespeople -- usually working in pairs -- charm their way into the homes of the most vulnerable. They tell their unassuming victims they are trying to win sales points.
Then, while one acts to distract, the other might ask to use the bathroom -- a ploy to take a peek around the house.
"They may case the house for a possible return," the source said. "Whatever it is, it doesn't go anywhere good."
In Friday's incident, the two who approached the developmentally disabled woman got her talking, preying on her innocent, trustful nature. She told them she worked as a waitress and she was a fan of the Yankees. They told her they needed career advancement points.
She wrote the checks -- $100 for US Weekly and $80 for EMG, plus $30 in processing fees. Ordered directly from their own Web sites, yearly subscriptions for both magazines come to $63.48 combined -- and US Weekly throws in four bonus issues for free.
The receipt her parents later found on the kitchen table pointed to a company called Tower of Power. Its corporate address is listed in Gig Harbor, Wash., under the name Pacific Coast Clearing Services.
When the Advance called its listed number, a recorded message said the customer service office was experiencing a high volume of calls.
"Please call back tomorrow," it asked.
An Internet search of both Tower of Power and Pacific Coast Clearing Services led to dozens of forum entries, some dating to 2002, telling the same story: People duped into writing checks for magazines that never came.
"They could tell right away that she's not on a level of what she should be at, and they took full advantage of that," said the woman's mother, who stopped payment on the checks and froze the account, the same account into which her daughter's Social Security check is deposited.
"To take advantage is such a cruel thing to do. I want to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else."
Stephanie Slepian is a news reporter for the Advance. She may be reached at slepian@siadvance.com.
© 2008 Staten Island Advance
© 2008 SILive.com All Rights Reserved.
A woman in need is victimized by magazine scammers
2 young con artists gain entry with a pitch and a smile
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
By STEPHANIE SLEPIAN
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Two clean-cut, college-aged women found the perfect target when they knocked on a Sunnyside door selling magazine subscriptions. On the other side was a developmentally disabled woman home sick from a day rehabilitation program.
She opened the door -- although expressly forbidden by her parents to do so -- because she thought they could have been friends of her younger sister. She let them in simply because it was raining on Friday.
By the time they left, the 30-year-old had written two separate checks totaling $210 for yearly subscriptions to US Weekly and EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly) magazines.
And while she was upstairs getting her checkbook, it seems the girls were downstairs unlocking the kitchen windows.
"Those windows are never unlocked," said the woman's mother who was advised by police to make sure nothing was missing from the house, including credit cards or mail. "I don't know what level they could go to with that."
A police source said it sounds like a variation on a scam that has been around for ages: Young, well-dressed, slick-tongued salespeople -- usually working in pairs -- charm their way into the homes of the most vulnerable. They tell their unassuming victims they are trying to win sales points.
Then, while one acts to distract, the other might ask to use the bathroom -- a ploy to take a peek around the house.
"They may case the house for a possible return," the source said. "Whatever it is, it doesn't go anywhere good."
In Friday's incident, the two who approached the developmentally disabled woman got her talking, preying on her innocent, trustful nature. She told them she worked as a waitress and she was a fan of the Yankees. They told her they needed career advancement points.
She wrote the checks -- $100 for US Weekly and $80 for EMG, plus $30 in processing fees. Ordered directly from their own Web sites, yearly subscriptions for both magazines come to $63.48 combined -- and US Weekly throws in four bonus issues for free.
The receipt her parents later found on the kitchen table pointed to a company called Tower of Power. Its corporate address is listed in Gig Harbor, Wash., under the name Pacific Coast Clearing Services.
When the Advance called its listed number, a recorded message said the customer service office was experiencing a high volume of calls.
"Please call back tomorrow," it asked.
An Internet search of both Tower of Power and Pacific Coast Clearing Services led to dozens of forum entries, some dating to 2002, telling the same story: People duped into writing checks for magazines that never came.
"They could tell right away that she's not on a level of what she should be at, and they took full advantage of that," said the woman's mother, who stopped payment on the checks and froze the account, the same account into which her daughter's Social Security check is deposited.
"To take advantage is such a cruel thing to do. I want to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else."
Stephanie Slepian is a news reporter for the Advance. She may be reached at slepian@siadvance.com.
© 2008 Staten Island Advance
© 2008 SILive.com All Rights Reserved.