By Vincent Safuto staff writer
August 14, 2004
With all the tales about con artists and scams going around today, it's a sad commentary that we have to be vigilant, even when good things happen to us.
Back in my days at the Boca Raton News, I remember reading about one fellow who was convinced that he was about to win a contest because all the letters he'd been sent assured him that he was one of the finalists.
I got those letters, too and learned to take them with a grain of salt because I had worked at a postal facility and had seen huge numbers of them arrive, bundled together by carrier route for delivery. You may be a finalist, but you share that privilege with millions of other people.
This poor fellow spent a fortune on magazine subscriptions and even traveled twice to the headquarters to claim his "prize," only to find that he had not won.
After these instances were publicized, some of the companies ended their contests and others had to modify theirs in hopes of preventing future bad publicity.
I joked in my Boca Raton News column one time about having received two notices from two different companies that I was "most definitely on the final, final, final list," eligible to win big money.
The letters said they'd come on Thanksgiving, and I opined that they should stagger their arrivals to avoid a tragic collision in the small cul-de-sac in my neighborhood. (They never showed up, and I had to eat the cookies I had prepared myself.)
My e-mail box today is full of offers promising big checks in the mail, and I don't believe a word of them. Still, one time I got a check in the mail and almost threw it out, so convinced was I that it was a scam of some sort.
It came in what looked like an official U.S. government "penalty" envelope, which threatens dire consequences if you use it to avoid paying postage. Inside was a check. I was skeptical.
It looked like a Social Security administration check, and the amount, less than $15, made me wonder if it was one of those "cash the check and change your phone service" deals. So I kept the check and awaited more information. About a week later, a letter arrived from the Social Security Administration telling me it had sent me a check. If I had any questions, I should call the toll-free number.
The person who responded was helpful and efficient. It was a legitimate check from the government, he said. Back in the 1970s, when my father had been on disability and had gotten checks for my brothers and me, he had been underpaid. The check settled the underpayment.
"Go ahead and cash it," the person advised. I did, of course.
It's a sad state of affairs when you have to check out everything, but nowadays it's the only way to avoid being taken for a ride.
Vincent F. Safuto is a copy editor for the Press Journal. Reach him at ( Vincent.Safuto@scripps.com).
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