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From: israel@umcp-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.misc
Subject: Re: Congratulations! you have just won one of the following . . .
Message-ID: <3276@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 21-Oct-83 23:21:49 EDT
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.3276
Posted: Fri Oct 21 23:21:49 1983
Date-Received: Sun, 23-Oct-83 14:05:03 EDT
References: <1760@ihnss.UUCP> <720@ihuxr.UUCP>
Organization: Univ. of Maryland, Computer Science Dept.
Lines: 30

I've gotten a few of those also, and I've usually found that on
the back they give the odds of winning and sometimes the values of
the prizes.  (In very small print, I mean VERY!  Maybe its a maryland
state law or something that they have to include that info).

Anyway, its usually fairly easy to spot the cheap prize; many times
its a trip to a far-away location and doesn't include travel costs
or meals (i.e. just lodging for a couple of days).  With the prize
list you mentioned, I would suspect the 'home copier'.  They are
not saying its a full-fledged xerox machine or anything, so it could
be something small and worth around 50 bucks.

Last year I got a phone call from one of those places.  They originally
told me that I qualified for an Atari game system, and that all I had
to do to get it is to show up at their place and listen to their
spiel.  Since the place was fairly close, I said ok.  Then they started
listing the conditions.  First I had to come with my wife, If I had
one.  That one was easy; I'm not married.  Then they said that I had to
have an income of over (I think it was twenty thousand).  Well, I'm
a student so I didn't satisfy that one.  I just told them and then
hung up.

Personally, I really hate hard-sell salesman, so I would mostly avoid
these things anyway.
-- 

^-^ Bruce ^-^

University of Maryland, Computer Science
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