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From: piggott@bnl.UUCP (Christopher Piggott @ Brookhaven National Laboratory, Long Island, N.Y.)
Newsgroups: net.consumers
Subject: C.O.D. Mail fraud
Message-ID: <859@bnl.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 17-Jan-85 18:30:55 EST
Article-I.D.: bnl.859
Posted: Thu Jan 17 18:30:55 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 24-Jan-85 05:34:44 EST
Distribution: net
Lines: 28

[The worst part of postnews - thinking of a cute starting line!]


This one came from a tv news "Consumer Reporter" from Conn. (whose
name I will not even attempt to spell!)

The idea is that I know you and want to make some quick money.  I
call you up, saying that you have won some prize, say, a trip, or
some interesting gadget.  I send you an empty box (or a box full
of nuts, bolts, screwdrivers, and anythging else I don't need) C.O.D.,
after calling you to tell you about your "Prize".  I also say there
will be some kind of a small fee to cover postage and notification,
and you must sign for the package and pay this small fee.  Then I
collect the COD moneys.

From what I understand, (which may or may not be correct), the person
who accepts this package is stuck - once you open it, it's yours.  The
idea is for everybody to not accept anything that they're not 100%
sure of in EVERY WAY - including the company's name and reputation,
and exactly who the package came from!

Comments either by mail or netnews; flames to /dev/null.

---

Christopher Piggott
ARPA: piggott@BNL
UUCP: ..!decvax!philabs!sbcs!bnl!piggott