Door to Door magazine sales

[xfinitywifi]

Hi,

I recently moved to the neighborhood in the Pigeon Point area. I have been roaming on this blog since and thought I’d contribute.

Yesterday in my neighborhood there was a man going door to door selling magazines for “charity.” Long story short, he claimed that he was selling magazines to support his daughter back home and trying to get out of the street life. He specifically asked for cash or check. After I said I don’t have either, he was aggressive saying you can go to the ATM right now. At this point he handed me a would be receipt for a 3 year subscription that would cost $180. I had no intention of giving this man any money, but took the information and quickly Googled the info and his name. His name checked out and address he provided seem to go to a business suite or a home where this “company” is lodging him, 2734 Montlake Blvd, Seattle, WA 98112. The “company” is Optimal Magazine (https://optimumreadersservices.com/). Just wanted to warn people about the risks.

Remember that if you hand over a check your account number, routing number, name, and address are on the check.

I Googled these types of magazine door to door sales and found a lot of things in common with their stories. I even saw a lot of past articles on this blog regarding door to door magazine sales:
http://listofscams.blogspot.com/2010/01/door-to-door-magazine-sales-scams-tips.html

[PSA] Watch out for Door to Door Fraudulent Magazine Subscription Sales
byu/Dirtdoggy inSeattle

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/04/trapped-into-selling-magazines-door-to-door/388601/

http://www.mcall.com/business/consumer/mc-nws-door-to-door-magazine-sales-watchdog-20170921-story.html

Happy Friday!

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[Forest]

Thanks for your post. And for your research.

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[EdSane]

They knocked on my door in the Westwood area a couple days ago. When I declined they were polite and left. I had the feeling that the door to door sellers were generally honest and were likely just as scammed as the people they sell to. I googled the company and that seemed to confirm my suspicions.

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[anonyme]

The days of door-to-door sales are gone, long gone. The iconic Fuller Brush man and encyclopedia sets are things of the past. There is no longer any legitimate reason for this practice to continue.

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[dhg]

Just knocked on our door. When told no thank you, the guy was rude. He said he was just trying to get off the streets, that he was HIV positive and trying to feed a family. I suspect it’s a line that might play well with some people in the Seattle crowd. Perhaps when he’s in Ft. Worth he tells them that he’s just a good Christian learning the value of working hard and not looking for a hand out. He had no visible tag from the City which is required for going door to door.

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[xfinitywifi]

Dug up more information on this situation. They claimed to donate to ChildHaven when I was given a receipt, still not sure why he gave me one when there wasn’t a transaction. I emailed ChildHaven about the situation and ChildHaven got back to me:

Thanks so much for the heads up about this! I just received notice from another person that they came to his house, too. I checked in with our team and it sounds like we haven’t received magazine subscriptions like what they describe below. There is no official affiliation with Childhaven and Optimum Reading Services.

Thanks again for bringing this to my attention!

All my best,
Kristi

Now I’m not a lawyer, but looking at .gov resources it seems that you have to have written consent with the non-profit. As EdSane mentioned these door to door sellers are probably just as scammed as the people they sell to. My advice don’t answer the door!

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