Magazine Scams
I don't like to be preachy but this has happened to me enough where I feel like I need to say something.
Yesterday a weird kid rang our doorbell to try to sell us magazines. I can't tell you the number of times I've heard the same spiel and I know it's a scam. I'ved lived in so many different apartments/houses and it's different kids, same crappy brochure, same talk of scholarship money.
I tried not to be rude to these kids because I was never sure if the kids really knew what they were doing - if maybe the companies were behind it all. There was this one time in my apartment with Marty in Gainesville, FL where I told the kid outright that I thought it was a scam and I wasn't sure if they knew it was a scam. They acted all indignant so I apologized and closed the door.
After last night I thought to look this up on the internet, because well nowadays I look up everything and I found some terrible news.
The New York Time has an article on the horror of what these kids go through -
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/21/us/21magcrew.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&sq
For anyone who has ever had a regular job, this is so not legitimate. It's akin to slave labor and the abuses they go through is completely unnecessary and what the hell kind of people are running these businesses. Same crappy people who sell drugs.
There's two web sites for parents of kids involved in these magazine crews -
http://www.parentwatch.org/about.html
http://www.magcrew.com/index.html
I just wanted to post about it because I don't know how many people are aware or know the details. Now I know as a 'customer' there's not much I can do - calling the cops won't do anything if these kids won't press charges, but one thing people can do is relay information to these kids to help them escape if they want to:
"Ms. Williams, from Parent Watch, said her organization advised customers not to buy from the sellers or to let them in the house, but to offer them a phone to call home or her organization’s phone number to help anyone who might want to arrange a bus ticket home."
I can't imagine having any of my future kids do this - but then I know the kids they prey on are the kids who don't have many choices on where to go or what to do and they just don't know.
Yesterday a weird kid rang our doorbell to try to sell us magazines. I can't tell you the number of times I've heard the same spiel and I know it's a scam. I'ved lived in so many different apartments/houses and it's different kids, same crappy brochure, same talk of scholarship money.
I tried not to be rude to these kids because I was never sure if the kids really knew what they were doing - if maybe the companies were behind it all. There was this one time in my apartment with Marty in Gainesville, FL where I told the kid outright that I thought it was a scam and I wasn't sure if they knew it was a scam. They acted all indignant so I apologized and closed the door.
After last night I thought to look this up on the internet, because well nowadays I look up everything and I found some terrible news.
The New York Time has an article on the horror of what these kids go through -
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/21/us/21magcrew.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&sq
For anyone who has ever had a regular job, this is so not legitimate. It's akin to slave labor and the abuses they go through is completely unnecessary and what the hell kind of people are running these businesses. Same crappy people who sell drugs.
There's two web sites for parents of kids involved in these magazine crews -
http://www.parentwatch.org/about.html
http://www.magcrew.com/index.html
I just wanted to post about it because I don't know how many people are aware or know the details. Now I know as a 'customer' there's not much I can do - calling the cops won't do anything if these kids won't press charges, but one thing people can do is relay information to these kids to help them escape if they want to:
"Ms. Williams, from Parent Watch, said her organization advised customers not to buy from the sellers or to let them in the house, but to offer them a phone to call home or her organization’s phone number to help anyone who might want to arrange a bus ticket home."
I can't imagine having any of my future kids do this - but then I know the kids they prey on are the kids who don't have many choices on where to go or what to do and they just don't know.