Scam Alert on Woodstrokes & Woodcrafts Magazine offer

[RKON]

SWMBO was doing the bills this morning and she was going through my woodworking magazine renewals and showed me a renewal order for Woodstrokes and Woodcrafts magazine which looked like an invoice. I had never heard of the magazine and checked it out on the web and verified it as a legitimate publication. Their subscription rate is 2 years $29 and the scam offer was $59 for 2 years.

The firm was called Lake Shore Publishers Service of White City Oregon. Further investigation has found that they are a slimy operation that has hit other magazines ( Popular Woodworking).

Check

for more info.

Happy New Year

Rich

[Hitch]

I get many, many magazine "renewal" offers which look just like invoices. They are almost always for magazines I don't get (and wouldnt'). You gotta read those bills before you pay them!

[jo4hn]

[RKON]

They also will submit 2 years on 3 year renewals and keep the profit. They always claim Oooops. Neither the publisher or the subscriber are aware of the scam. Real scum they are. You know what they say.... What goes around Comes around. However, it does not seems like it comes around too quickly.

Rich

[Robert Bonomi]

'Fake invoices' are *illegal*. Under "39 USC 3001 (d) 1"

Report it to the U.S. Postal Inspectors. There's a check-box on the standard "mail fraud" reporting form ( PS form 8165 -- "why, yes, I _do_ happen to have one of those forms in front of me" *grin* -- and it's available on-line, at )

What to do with the completed form is on the form itself. Note: _mailing_ it does *not* require postage.

These folks can have all their incoming mail intercepted, and 'returned to sender', *AND* their outgoing mail "file 13'd", instead of being delivered.

[Mark Jerde]

Thanks. Your reply is filed for future use.

-- Mark

[George]

This is similar to the scam of sending small businesses invoices for stuff they never ordered and never received. They depend on the amount being small enough so that people/companies just pay them. I'd STRONGLY suggest NOT throwing out the "invoice" but filing a formal complaint with the Attorney General in your state + the Attorney General in the state of Oregon. Put scammers where they belong...in prison.

Woodstrokes

[George]

I've filed a three of them myself...all with good endings (from MY viewpoint ). The postal service DOES take this very seriously, and in my experience, is great.

[JarHead]

Be on the lookout for the same scam regarding FWW! i received the "invoice" and emailed FWW customer service. They told me that this was a repeat offender and they were trying to take legal action to stop it. Sounds like the problem is only getting worse. LN