It came a bit later this year than last, but once again, N.M.E. or “National Magazine Exchange” has invaded my mailbox with the latest version of their deceptive mailings. And this time this important message comes to us not from our old friend Pat Haines, but from someone calling his or herself “E. Scanlon.”
Although they are not using the familiar “pink nightmare” envelope this year, there are the usual deceptive tactics in use that are designed to get the recipient to open the envelope rather than simply tossing it in the trash.
As you can see on the front of the envelope (click to enlarge), the paragraph in the upper left corner is intended to make the recipient believe that they may have already won some kind of prize or sweepstakes. And of course, the ominous “deadline” date of July 3 shows through the little window on the lower right with the rather humorous “DEADLINES ARE ENFORCED” warning just beneath it.
On the back of the envelope, the sender’s return address is revealed. Across the top, where most people would probably look first to determine the origin of the letter, they include just and address with no company name.
The company name is printed vertically on the left side of the envelope with “NOTIFICATION SYSTEM” printed in large letters and their actual company name printed in smaller letters below that. Again, they want to make it look like it is some kind of notification that the recipient has won something.
The letter contained within is the typical effort to entice the recipient to call a telephone number. In this case, it is 800-420-5478. Their efforts to make the recipient believe they have already won something is toned down a bit and they have to admit that this is simply a chance to enter a sweepstakes when they begin the second paragraph with “If your prize is selected…” which gives the whole thing away.
If my experience with N.M.E. is any indication, calling 800-420-5478 will connect you to a very friendly-sounding sales person who may engage you in small talk about the weather or your home town. Then they get down to business.
They are peddling magazine subscriptions and they don’t take no for an answer very easily. The woman I spoke with when I was tricked into calling them was quite pushy with her magazine pitch and I ended up hanging up on her when she would not take no for an answer.
The back of the letter has the usual page of legal mumbo jumbo about the sweepstakes rules and whatnot. What is kind of interesting is that next to the last sentence, where they offer you the opportunity to have your name and address removed from future mailings. Whether this is due to some consumer law or simply N.M.E.’s chance to save a little money that would be spent on postage and materials by sending this stuff out to people who are not interested. Personally, I think I’ll just let them keep on sending them since they do give me something to rant about here.
I am left wondering what happened to our beloved Pat Haines? A reader commented last year that she was a known scammer, but I have never done any research on that so I would have no idea.
At any rate, E. Scanlon seems to have taken over for Pat at N.M.E. Is Pat on a beach somewhere sipping a Pina Colada or did she perhaps end up in a less pleasant locale? We may never know.
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