Just received a Notice of Renewal/New Order form from an outfit identified as National Magazine Services. Kalmbach has not authorized this - in fact, their Customer Services had not been aware of this particular organization.
Two dead giveaways that these people aren’t tied to the Kalmbach data base:
None of the reference numbers match those on my Model Railroader labels.
The address came from a Carstens mailing list (don’t ask how I know.)
A legitimate renewal notice will have the Model Railroader and/or Kalmbach Publishing names prominently displayed, and will NOT ask for payment to be remitted to Reno, NV.
Chuck (Suspicious old coot modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
How dumb are they to use a mailing list adress of Carstens to try to solicit subscriptions for a Kalmbach magazine? Mabe the mail-scamming buisness is taking up so much time to get right, that they are starting to pull adress labels off of magazines and picking them out of a hat.
Also, Chuck
I don’t think your a suspicious old coot. Your just doing your part to help us avoid a scam.
Still, the use of a Carstens adress for a Kalmbach magazine renewal is not the dumbest thing I have ever seen. (see below)
Here’s the dumbest rip-off scam I have ever seen (curtesy of Dark Roasted Blend.com)
Report it to Reno 911, Homeland Security and Chief Clancey Wiggum of the Springfield Police Department.
Seriously, is there some agency to send these to? If they are using the Post Office, it becomes mail fraud. Maybe take it to your local Post Office and see if they’ll “go Postal” on these guys.
Uh, those who bite on “bargains” get what they deserve. The one I received went directly into the round file to be never seen again. Personally, I will only renew with official MR/Kalmbach notices. Period.
I feel sorry for those who do fall for it, but there isn’t much excuse anymore, with Google and company to help us verify.
National Magazine Service is one of the fraudulent subscription renewal companies that Railroad Model Craftsman is warning readers to avoid in every issue.
And somehow I suspect they pocket plenty of money nonetheless for looking so obviously fake.
One advantage to actually renewing MR through Kalmbach is that I remember to sign up for Great Model Railroads and Model Railroad Planning. It may not be much of a deal in the bigger picture but it has become sort of a personal tradition and it is always a pleasant surprise to get the issues in the mail.
It seems today’s criminals are getting lazy. I remember a few years ago when ATMs were new technology a story on Paul Harvey’s News and Comment about criminals stealing a USPS mail drop box from a post office parking lot, moving it to the bank parking lot, then placing a note on the ATM stating that it was broken and all deposits should be placed in the drop box. People actually fell for it!
When i get garbage like this I put the company address in the return address area , fill it with other junk mail and return it without postage… Don’t know if they wind up paying or what , but it makes me feel better. This works great if there is postage of some kind already on the envelope…
That is where mine went as well as anything that looks “official” and has personal information on it. This even though in my rural town there is no municipal trash pickup; I carry my trash bags to the transfer station, and drop them directly into the compactor. From there they go directly to a commercial landfill.
There are dumpster divers [oX)] who will paw through people’s trash to find anything they can to identify them. [B)]
Interestingly, I got one of those today myself. Definitely did not come from a Carsten’s mailing list because I have never subscribed to RMC at this address, only MR and MRN. If I remember, when I run my yearly credit report I’ll see if they got it that way, through a soft inquiry. That’s where most places that send you scam offers get your info from. Shredded it and tossed it. Particularly obvious is the fact that last time I renewed MR I did a 3-year, and I have over a year and a half left. So why would they be saying my subscription is almost up? That alone tells me it’s a scam.
Interesting side note. Kalmbach’s customer service person specifically used the word, “Destroy,” when referring to disposition of the slip. Mine will be going to the Post Office (major substation where I have a lock box) tomorrow, where it will be turned over to the postal inspector.
Would you believe… These nitwits provided a street address and suite number on the phony invoice and pre-addressed return envelope. The envelope is too small for the invoice, another giveaway that the whole business is ??? Every honest request for payment (I get several a month) has a return slip that fits the return envelope.
