“AND YOU WILL BE HAPPY!..”

FINANCE

After the publication of the article "Happiness is full of shops" - about "postal" scams - several readers shared with the editors their own experience of participating in such events. Moreover, for some reason, the most detailed letter came from the North Caucasus, ...

After the publication of the article "Happiness is full of shops" - about "postal" scams - several readers shared with the editors their own experience of participating in such events. Moreover, for some reason, the most detailed letter came from the North Caucasus, proving the old truth: the poorer the region, the more worldly blessings clever businessmen promise its population.

“Dear editor!

Thank you for the article ... I confirm that everything described in the article takes place in life, and quite widely and not for the first year.

Somewhere in May 2004, in one newspaper there was an advertisement with a scanword, which, if the keyword was found, promised a prize of 170 thousand rubles. There was nothing to do, and, having guessed the keyword, I sent a letter to the address 111394, Moscow, post office "Ozon". Surprisingly quickly, I received an answer with a message that I, the lucky one, turned out to be the winner and won 170 thousand rubles. They sent a bunch of papers, beautifully designed, with the assignment of a special winner number to me. All appeals to me begin with the words sir, dear, and everything is in the same spirit that the soul melts right away.

To receive a win of 170 tr. All I need to do is order book products from ZAO Evalar from 300 rubles according to the catalog. and send the payment receipt as soon as possible. Which is what I did.

A week later I receive another letter confirming my winnings of 170 tr., warm congratulations and another catalogue. Ten days later I promptly received the ordered books, which I did not need at all. To the second letter from the Ozon mailbox, I replied that I had subscribed for the books and was looking forward to winning. Ozone is silent.

A little later, I received a similar letter from Rusbeauty LLC, PO Box Health Clinic. How they found out my address is understandable, but how did they guess that after the first letters my blood pressure jumped and now I need medicine? They offer a new prize - 100 tr. I am silent.

Apparently, considering that I was offended by the reduction in the size of the prize, on August 27, 2004 they sent me a new letter, already from Buying for Home LLC, and they offer 350 tr! By the way, both Ozon and Rusbeauty, and Home Shopping make the same mistake in my address in the index: instead of 368012 they write 368042.

If I lived close to Moscow, I would try to turn to P. Astakhov’s “Hour of Judgment” program on REN.TV in order to make “advertising” for all this company all over Russia. These… are pecking at the fact that we still have little left after we were repeatedly “cleansed” by our native state. In my case, the state is probably right: really, why do I need all the savings and benefits of the “Veteran of Labor” if I voluntarily give part of my pension for things that I absolutely do not need?

"Lovely letters" I wanted to throw away, but the Motherland must know its "heroes." Such violent activity, with such a scale and geography, that this is no longer just a scam, and I am surprised along with your author: “And all this raspberry is being promoted in the presence of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB and other defenders of the working people.”

Sincerely, retired, "Veteran Truda" Yusupov Nazirkhan Izavovich, Republic of Dagestan.

PS 09/06/04 I receive a new letter, this time from the World of Books. The index is the same - 368042.

I, dear Nazyrkhan, have received a stack of envelopes by mail since that publication. I do not want to systematize all this expensive mousetrap. Therefore, as they say in preference, one at a time from above.

1. “Moscow, PO Box 30, World of Books-2004 No. P6” promises 250 thousand rubles.

2. LLC "Rusbeauty", 111394, Moscow, PO Box "Health Clinic" - offers a choice of either 100 thousand rubles, or 3450.00 US dollars. A colorful image of the money, which already seems to belong to me, is attached.

3. Purchases at Home LLC, 111394, Moscow, PO Box 4. Here I was first offered 220 thousand rubles, then they crossed out and wrote 300 thousand, and then they raised the rates to 350 thousand - “For you, this is exactly 350,000 rubles!”.

4. Reader's Digest magazine simply does not care anymore when it gives me a brand new Opel Vectra car, 2004, with a sedan body, for beautiful eyes. And if I already have a car, then Readers Digest agrees to give out the winnings in cash - 650 thousand rubles. Immediately. Just because the stars are so aligned, and he has nowhere to put his money. And this magazine is just an intermediary between me and the stars, and there is not the slightest self-interest or violations of the law in its activities.

About ten years ago, other people lived in our apartment. Then they moved. Then the elderly mistress of that family died. But Mir Knigi is ready to supply her with money and books there too. For several years now, he has been sending her descriptions of wonderful books and seducing her immortal soul with a prize of 250 thousand rubles. And also: an original metal bookmark, a fountain pen, 300 books, a music center, a TV with a picture of a bright skier, a washing machine and a refrigerator.

The Reader's Digest does not leave the other world with its attention either. Their last parcel addressed to the deceased is full of the latest postal technologies: in a special window of a chic envelope there is a car key.

The car is in the graveyard! That is, sorry, in the studio!

The envelope also contains a prize fund of 13,600,000 rubles! The deceased are guaranteed finalist status for the 16th Readers' Digest Prize Draw!

And in a personal message to the deceased, the chairman of the Readers' Digest Prize Drawing Commission, Mr. D. Andreev, confidentially said: “Just think: what if the winning number got on your ticket ... After all, then the transfer of 150,000 rubles will be immediately issued in your name and to your address!

Oh, good sir, it will be difficult for you to get her correct address ...

But he still does not let up and honestly warns: if, they say, you don’t answer and don’t order our books, we will be forced to keep your money. And we will play them again - between those smart and prudent who respond on time and conscientiously transfer money to us.

I recently met a friend on the street. He is a lawyer, and luck came to him by mail - a super prize of 150,000 rubles! The money is already in the safe, and all you need to do is order some goods from the attached catalog for 1000 rubles. At first I was surprised: no one sent them questionnaires. But the address is his, the surname too, and they address in a letter by name and patronymic. So, did you really win something? He sent the order coupon, and in response - silence. Now I’m going to Moscow to find this very “Post Russ Club” and get my legitimate, hard-earned one hundred and fifty thousand.

He had the letter with him. I asked: how could you, a professional lawyer, fall for such a cheap bait? Tell me, my friend, a lawyer, where does it say that you won 150,000 rubles? And then you go to Moscow with your hard-earned money to look for a shipping company and get a warrant for a Moscow apartment: where are apartments handed out here for a thousand rubles? You won the victory, that's what, but how much it is, nowhere is said! What kind of naivete is this, turning into idiocy, if even a lawyer pecks?

And you can't prove anything in court. And participated in the scam voluntarily.

Interestingly, in 1999 the Ministry of Antimonopoly Policy fined one of these firms (already mentioned in the previous article "Euroshop") by almost 100 thousand rubles. And what? It is impossible to bring such firms to liability more serious than administrative. They paid like a bush and continue to work.

An analysis of the texts they send out leads to only one conclusion: here you are promised only participation in the lottery. There are no grounds for a civil suit. For a criminal case, and even more so: you need to prove the presence of malicious and mercenary intent, to convince the investigator that the scammers know in advance: there will be no promised prizes. It is enough for the company to bring one dummy "lucky one", and the accusation crumbles.

And all sorts of "SportAcademPosyltorgi", "Post-Shops" and "Charity Lotteries" continue to lure with impunity with the promise of apartments in the capital, gold items at bargain prices, and large cash prizes. Experts estimate the total income of postal scammers at a billion dollars a year.