STATE OF MIND : Mr. Lucky
You’d think I was God’s favorite the way these announcements told me about all the prizes I had won. They tended to be low-key affairs; no famous talk-show sidekicks waving through the envelope’s cellophane window. One even looked horrifyingly like a collection agency notice, emblazoned with the words “EXTREMELY URGENT.”
“Please call me at your earliest convenience regarding sweepstakes entry 149277191,” the contents read. I didn’t recall entering a sweepstakes but I called the toll-free number anyway. I must’ve sounded too suspicious because the person at the other end abruptly got rid of me.
Determined to claim some prize, I erased all traces of cynicism from my voice for my next call, to a company that assured me that I was a sure thing to receive at least one of five “major awards.” The woman told me I was a credit-card holder in good standing and thus chosen for this special promotion. She asked for an expiration date from one of my credit cards. I gave her a fake one. She went to “access her computer.”
“Congratulations, Mr. Ehrman,” she trilled. “Let me tell you about some of the awards you’ll receive”: exciting vacations to Florida, Mexico, Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe, not to mention a camera and makeup from Bianca of Beverly Hills. Yessiree, more than $2,000 worth of stuff. “Oh, Mr. Ehrman, there’s one more thing.” Seems they needed a “processing fee” up front--$698.50 to be exact.
“I don’t have it,” I pleaded. “I’m broke from Christmas shopping.”
“No problem,” she urged. “We’ll take it in three payments on your MasterCard.” I got off the phone.
“It is in violation of California law for anyone to tell you that you’ve won a prize and then ask you to pay anything,” says Herschel Elkins, head of the consumer law section of the state attorney general’s office. “And that means anything --to buy a product, pay taxes or submit a processing fee.”
Though authorities frequently arrest the perpetrators of these schemes, new cons spring up as quickly as the old ones are busted. Indeed, the next day I received a card from an outfit in Tampa saying I was “selected to receive a 9 day/8 night Tropical Vacation Offer.” Hotels, beaches, cruises, Disney World--the works.
As it turns out, there was just one catch . . . .
