Some Common Swindles Exposed
In a recent article contributed to The Outlook, the Assistant Attorney of the Post-office Department at Washington, Edwin W. Lawrence, makes an expose of the swindling that is done in this country through the post-office; that is, by lying advertisements and the use of the United States mails. The government makes it a crime to use the mails for the purpose of swindling, and does a vast amount of work in discovering and putting a stop to such practices, yet the number of these unscrupulous persons who successfully operate their schemes, and fatten upon the public credulity, is legion. These lying advertisements appear in all classes of papers and periodicals, reputable as well as otherwise, and religious journals are often as culpable in this respect as any others. The statements made by this government official on the subject are worthy of the widest publicity, and it is possible they may have a financial value to some readers of the REVIEW, and through them to the cause for which it stands. For this reason we make the following quotations from his article:— “The boldness of some men and the credulity of others are startling and wonderful. The following show some of the representations made to secure a remittance without intending to send anything in return: That a court rendered a decision authorizing the writer to proceed with the distribution of prizes awarded in a contest, upon which an attachment had been placed by creditors, and the addressee’s prize is a ‘horse, lily buggy and harness’ worth $275, which will be shipped upon receipt of $29.60 for freight charges; that men are desired to work in a company store at one hundred dollars per month, and a pass worth twenty-five dollars will be sent one desiring to take the work, but only upon advancement of ten dollars as a ‘guarantee of good faith;’ that employment at the World’s Fair will be furnished by ‘The Bureau’ for all sorts of clerks, waiters, etc., at salaries of one hundred and fifty dollars per month, but five dollars ‘good faith’ money is required. A person at Binghamton, N. Y., advertised to loan money on property, to purchase or sell houses, farms, etc., and upon receiving an answer, he said a personal examination of the property was necessary, and that therefore he must have money sent him for transportation one way. After remitting, the victim would hear nothing from the company. A concern in Syracuse, N. Y., advertised to pay three dollars per day for men to distribute circulars, tack signs, etc. To secure work, one dollar must be sent. A list of one thousand names of firms doing extensive advertising was the only return. Farmers all over the country are induced to send butter, cheese, cider, maple sugar, and produce of all kinds to cities by professional crooks, who quote a high price, but never intend to remit for the goods. Such cases frequently reach the Department. “Men actually seem to have reached the belief that they can ‘gather grapes of thorns and figs of thistles.’ A man in Belfast, Maine, advertised that his ‘business was peculiar,’ that he dealt in money of several kinds, and had a ‘money-making method’ that would enable one to acquire good cash by exchanging bank bills for coin. If two dollars is remitted, he said he would send samples of money representing fifty dollars. A Confederate fifty-dollar bill was sent. A man in Minneapolis with greater enterprise advertised ‘fifty dollars for one dollar—not Confederate.’ Upon receipt of one dollar a book containing directions for removing ‘kinks’ from negroes’ hair, how to make ‘obesity soap,’ etc., was sent, with the information that it ‘contains fifty dollars’ worth of information and schemes, so you get what we stated.’ “The folly and greed of some people is well illustrated by the large number who remitted three dollars, expecting to get a well-equipped bicycle, in response to an advertisement giving a detailed description of it, and received only a cheap watch-charm in the design of a bicycle. Also by those sending a like amount obtained from selling bluing for a company, expecting to get in return a large and valuable sewing-machine. They received a small hand instrument, labeled the ‘Soezy Sewing-machine,’ to be fastened on the edge of a table. . . . “All will admit the propriety of the name given the machine—‘Soezy.’ “A Tennessean at Knoxville displayed equal genius when, under the name of the Button Top Bedspring Company, he sent elaborate circular matter with an offer, as was alleged, to introduce his new invention set forth in detail. He said: ‘We will send one sample spring, charges prepaid, on receipt of one dollar. If you do not like the spring after seeing it, you will be under no obligation to accept the agency, as we do not want an agent that can not recommend this spring above all others. We will give two dollars for each recommendation we receive and use. We send only one sample spring to a firm, and under no circumstances will we send two or more springs at this price.’ The last statement is doubtless true, for the one dollar brought only a small coil of wire. . . . “A few years ago an advertisement appeared in religious papers that the writer, a minister, on his visit to the holy land, chanced upon some seeds of Jonah’s gourd of Bible fame, and secured a few to bring back with him. These few he desired to distribute among Bible students, and on receipt of a dollar would send one. Among the thousands of orders was one from a well-known Connecticut authoress. She wrote the seller that she had tried the seed, but feared the severe climate was accountable for its failure to grow, and so she sent another dollar, hoping she might be successful with the second one. It was sent her with the remark that, true to the Bible description, it ‘came up in a night and perished in a night,’ and probably escaped her observation. She was advised to watch this one closely. Investigation developed that the story of the alleged minister was entirely false, and that pumpkin seeds, boiled so as to deprive them of their germinating power, were sent. A14scheme, the converse of this, was to advertise ‘A Book for Gamblers, $1,’ and send a Bible. One individual claimed to send directions and material for drawing a tooth without pain for fifty cents. Paper and pencil were sent, with instructions to draw the tooth on the paper. “Home-work schemes, appealing to needy widows and the infirm, are in favor with swindlers. A great many of these operating in New York City were suppressed last spring. The Majestic Lace Company advertised that fifteen dollars could be earned weekly by working at odd times at home. An order for fifty dollars’ worth of medallions was sent, but the applicant was required to remit two dollars for a machine which cost thirty-six cents. The company offered two cents a medallion; it was, however, impossible to make over three an hour. The result was that, out of 1,250 persons remitting the two dollars, only one hundred and fifty dollars was received by them as recompense, the victims becoming tired of their work soon after starting. “Twenty dollars per thousand for copying letters at home is another inducement. A dollar must be remitted for the outfit, which consists of a pen and penholder worth five cents. Not until remitting is the person enlightened as to the letter, and it then appears to be of such a nature that no one would care to copy it, or is much longer than represented. . . . “Numerous advertisements appear in all kinds of publications offering a premium of a ‘rifle, a solid gold brooch or ring with genuine diamond, a gold watch, or a sewing-machine for a few hours’ work’ in selling a dozen boxes of pills for twenty-five cents each. When the three dollars from the sale of the pills is received by the company, it sends a letter saying the person could not have read the advertisement correctly, as it is necessary to sell a hundred or more boxes to secure the premium desired. The task disgusts the duped person, and the company, having received three dollars for the goods, hears nothing further from him. “To a limited extent the Department can protect the public against fraudulent mining and oil companies, and has issued a number of orders against such concerns in the last year. But the extreme difficulty of procuring sufficient evidence, and the fact that such evidence as can be obtained consists largely of opinions, mitigates against action.”