February 17, 2005
Thursday

ALERT! Many of you have probably had a young adult knock on your door in the last several days attempting to sell magazines. I have had two and most of my co-workers have also. They variously claim to be involved in a contest or to know your friends or neighbors or represent some charity or foundation. My understanding is that these kids are not from here and have been transported here from Washington State or elsewhere.

I was suspicious and did some Internet research and got 341,000 hits for "Magazine Sales Scam" on Google. I'm not sure which group these people work for but there is a very real possibility there is fraud involved here. The worst of it may actually be the plight of the salespersons, they are promised good money and travel and are often being scammed themselves. The stories on the net are scary.

If anyone else is concerned or has gleaned additional information from the salespersons as to whom the parent company is, please sound off.

One Federal Trade Commission site ranked Alaska as the number two location of victims nationwide, so apparently we are considered an "Easy Mark" by the scam industry. Let's use this great resource to protect our community or at least allay fears if they are legit.

Kris Jensen
Ketchikan, AK - USA

 

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