Never Buy Anything From Someone Who Approaches You

I've been scammed. Back in my post, Two Fraud Bloggers, I mentioned that I am not a trusting person. I've been labeled as "too nice" which I will admit to, but I also have extremely good instincts. I've made it to almost age 30 without ever being ripped off.

I've never given money to people who approached me, no matter how popular their company, I have my one charity I stick with, and for businesses that I do choose on my own to give my money (i.e. stores, doctors, etc), I am still careful with my money.

All it took was one day to stray from this rule (which I won't be doing again), ironically just a week after I posted that above blog about frauds.

In my post, Everything, I said: "[For Father's Day] Logan gave his daddy a subscription to ESPN magazine. . .I'd been approached in the Hy-Vee parking lot by a college student selling magazines for a vacation or whatever it is they do every year. I've never bought any from them before but this was just a few days before Father's Day and I hadn't bought a gift for Joe yet. Joe said he's looking forward to it."

I've lived in Nebraska for almost 7 years. Each year at least 2, sometimes 3, "college students" come to my door and ask if I'll buy a magazine subscription so they can go on a class vacation. I always decline, as I do all door-to-door, phone, mail, and in person sales people. (We don't even buy girl scout cookies. And I don't even let survey people talk to me.)

But, two months ago a guy was at the right place at the right time - on Wednesday, June 17th (4 days before Father's Day). I hadn't gotten Joe anything yet, had not felt I'd gotten him enough for Christmas, Valentine's Day, or our anniversary, and didn't know yet what to get him two weeks after Father's Day for his birthday -- so the pressure was on.

I was in a safe, public place (and there were several other magazine-people talking to other shoppers, so it almost appeared they'd gotten permission from Hy-Vee), and since I was very familiar (for almost 7 years) with "the speal" (the guy said the exact same things all of the others have said over the years, showed me the exact same pamphlets and info, had his "proof card," etc.), I thought hey this might be my answer. (I never would have talked to him had this been the first time I was approached. It's the same as if you buy from a place you've heard of before online or off TV or from a catalog - if you've ever paid for something without having the product in your hand that exact second then don't think this can't happen to you!)

So even though it was a warm June day, I had just unloaded my groceries into my trunk, and I had my 14 month old sitting in the cart (this would have been one time I wish Logan would have cried because that would have immediately made me send the guy on his way) - I took the time to look at the magazine choices. The only magazine that was an option for me was ESPN, so I asked how much it was. The guy replied that it was less than $2 an issue. I thought, that's a good price, yeah okay, what the heck.

During his entire fast-talking-making-small-talk-cheesy-conversation, I never had any warning signs or hesitations. I just thought he was a typical sales guy. No offense to sales people out there (I have beloved relatives who are) but it's one job I'd never do and it's a job that I don't respect, either - because I don't think it's possible to be completely honest in that profession. So the fact that he wasn't a quality guy wasn't really something to give me a red flag about. Yeah, he was fake - he was a sales guy!

However, I didn't like that when he told me the total, it was $71.00. Not exactly the price I was expecting since I was paying a dollar-something an issue. But he explained the subscription was for a few years. Okay, fine. Well then he asked if I could pay him in cash. "I don't carry cash," I answered. I also don't have an ATM card so that was the only time when I about said, "Nevermind." He explained that they don't like checks because they can bounce, but he trusted me.

HA!

A month later (mid July) the magazine hadn't come. We checked our bank statement and saw my check to Ok Marketing (P.O. Box 1060 Kittredge, CO 804572) for an ESPN magazine subscription costing $71.00 had been cashed on 6/22/09. We decided to give it another month (which brings me to now = still no magazine). This morning Joe said to me, "Do you think you were scammed?"

A sick feeling passed over me. I knew the answer at that moment. I looked up Ok Marketing online and the first thing that came up were the words "scam" and "rip off." About a month ago, there were some arrests made in Nebraska regarding this, but not the guy who scammed me. (Apparently our local TV station already did a story.)

I called my bank this morning and unfortunately they said it was too late for me to get my money back. When I asked who signed for the check, the personal banker said that the check had been cashed without a name! The only thing written on the front of the check was [the name?] Grant. (On my receipt the name appears to be Chris G; I remember he said he was from California - Sylmar, the same town my brother lives, but who knows maybe he was lying. He wasn't any taller than my husband who is 5'8" and he had dark hair. I'd know him if I saw him but I doubt I'll ever learn anymore about this.)

I then called my dad who retired two months ago from the Department of Criminal Investigation in Des Moines, IA. He wasn't very sympathetic as none of my parents usually are (but Logan will never be able to say that about me), he said that I probably won't ever get that money back. All I can do is file a police report and have peace of mind that if he's caught he will be held accountable - but that doesn't make me feel any better. Nobody likes to be a victim and nobody likes to lose money. These people can just steal and never have to give the money back, even if caught???? (Although I doubt he will be caught for this scam - I'm sure he's moved on to other frauds by now.)

Yeah, $71.00 isn't the same as all of the people out there who are out hundreds and thousands of dollars due to scams - but that is $71.00 that my family - a one income household since I am a stay at home mom - can not afford to just hand over to a criminal. From reading online articles (like this one), it sounds like there were a ton of people working for this "company" in several states - not just Nebraska, this is happening all over the U.S.

I've had a flashback to when I attended college in Iowa when we were all notified that a ton of students were ripped off by PEOPLE SELLING MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS!!!! I recall a guy coming to my dorm room door, but my radar was on high as a freshman living on my own for the first time, so I turned him away immediately.

Now, 11 years later I was duped by the exact same scam. All I can do is look at it as a lesson learned. I won't ever stray from my rule again. My radar is even higher than before.

On the bright side, I have a nice husband. At first I thought the check had been for $76 (because that seems to be what most other victims paid) but when our bank said $71 Joe said, "Hey, we saved $5!" I guess my guy gave me a discount, thanks.

But tears have still been cried on my part. The last words the guy said to me were "God bless you." Wow. I have no doubt God heard that and karma will show itself to him -- it always does.

I hope that writing this blog can prevent someone else from being scammed - whether it's by Ok Marketing, another magazine-subscription rip off, or any other fraud out there.