Complaint Review: NME - National Magazine Exchange

My husband received an "Official Notice" letter with a "RollingStone" Logo on it. The pink envelope stating boldly in blue, then red, then black(US Postal Service style); "Important Delivery Letter" with Pat Haines as the sender. To the side of the return address was printed in all caps OFFICIAL NOTICE.

The letter inside verbatim:

CALL 1-888-227-0999
ID # 508471228
DEAR DAVID
WE ARE TRYING TO REACH YOU REGARDING YOUR $2,100,000.00
SWEEPSTAKES ID # 508471228.
PLEASE CALL US AT THE ABOVE NUMBER. THIS IS A FREE CALL.

SINCERELY - PAT HAINES, SALES REPRESENTATIVE

This letter is one of the most convincing ploys I've seen in a while because of the way the sentence is structured. It looks like they are contacting you about a sweepstake you have won. Note the dollar amount is not followed by a period, so the sentence isn't finished until you read the next line. They are actually contacting you about your sweepstake number. There is really nothing of "importance" or actually "official" except for this entery number, if you care.

My husband thought maybe one of our kids had entered his name in something and called to see how to collect his money. He was warmly received by an employee which offered a common sales tactic known as "the warm-up" so he could feel comfortable with this situation, and was told he didn't win yet, but could enter the sweepstake. He could buy 3 magazines for $1.29 per week for 48 monthes, get his & her diamond watches for free, two extra magazines for free, and $40.00 gas free.

My husband liked the deal, but it didn't sound right to me. I listened as he announced the magazines he wanted. He was then transferred to another person who asked which credit card we had. He was told, "I only want the expiration date." I had to step in and say no to the whole deal. Nobody ever just wants an expiration date. It creeped me out. Is this really from this company or is this some organization pretending to be this company that is using stolen bank information?

If this SOLICITATION is genuine, I don't appreciate the deceptive come-on. If it is not genuine, I invite the proper authorities to contact me per this web-site. Thank you Ripp-off Reports for the platform to warn others.

Kathryn
Mount Holly, North Carolina
U.S.A.