The mailed pleas for money come in stacks every day. Here’s what to do

A reader: All of a sudden, my Dad is receiving stacks of mail every day. I’m not sure how it started but it has really gotten out of hand. He has received lottery and sweepstakes mailing. He also receives mail from charities that I have never heard of. How do I stop it?

Action Line: Your father could have donated to a cause or entered a drawing. The first thing to do is to start by asking each of the senders to remove his name from their “list.”

To stop unwanted mail, you can register with the Mail Preferences Service of the Direct Marketing Association, www.dmachoice.org/. You can also register for phone calls and email as well. This will help but will not completely eliminate the “junk” mail. You also need to allow several weeks to see the progress. I had one consumer tell me that if the “junk” mail includes a postage paid envelope, she takes the contents of the mailing, puts it back in their postage paid envelope and mails it back to the sender on their dime.

If you suspect fraud, contact your U.S. Postal Inspector at 877-876-2455, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Better Business Bureau’s Scamtracker.

If you decide to open it and review the offers, the FTC warns that some con artists use the lure of a sweepstakes to convince consumers to send in money to claim a prize they've supposedly won. They tell consumers that the only thing that separates them from their winnings is a fee to cover the taxes or service charges. But as all too many consumers know, the winnings as described never turn up.

Crooks are getting bolder, using names of government agencies and legitimate phone numbers that mask where they're calling from. Claiming to represent the national consumer protection agency, the non-existent National Sweepstakes Bureau, and even the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), they say that the delivery of the sweepstakes prize is being supervised by the supposed government agency.

They also use internet technology to make it appear that they're calling from Washington, D.C., the nation's capital, or the consumer's own area code. These scammers then convince consumers to wire money to a foreign country and they usually suggest a money transfer company like Western Union to wire the money to an agent or an insurance company to ensure delivery of the prize. In reality no insurance company is involved and con artists take the money and disappear.

According to the real Federal Trade Commission, consumers can keep from falling for the lure of the sweepstakes scam by taking a few precautions. Avoid the following if:

▪ You have to pay anything.

▪ You have to wire money.

▪ You have to deposit a check they’ve sent you.

▪ Your ”notice” was mailed by bulk rate.

▪ You have to attend a sales meeting to win.

▪ You receive an unsolicited call saying you have won something.

This story was originally published August 28, 2017 at 1:08 PM with the headline "The mailed pleas for money come in stacks every day. Here’s what to do."