FTC warns public about telemarket schemes that promise monetary gains
by Jennifer Bentley, reporter

    It happens everyday, Americans check the mail, or answer the phone, and deal with endless marketing schemes.
   It can be the telemarketer calling in the middle of dinner or the endless parade of junk advertisements that clog mailboxes, but it never seems to end.
   And it seems to be all fake, a scam cleverly concocted by con artists.
   The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) suggests several steps to avoid getting caught in the scams and to stop the endless calls and mail.
   Every year, according to a recent research poll, half of all American adults enter sweepstakes.
   According to the FTC, reputable marketers and non-profit organizations run most of these contests.
   However, in 1999 alone, the FTC received 10,000 complaints from consumers about sweepstakes and prize promotions.
   According to the FTC, legitimate contests are awarded solely by chance, and contestants do not have to pay a fee or buy something to enter or increase their odds of winning.
   But in the fraudulent schemes, contestants almost always have to pay to enter the contest or collect a prize.
   Consumers can protect themselves from telemarketing schemes using the Telemarketing Sales Rule.
   This rule requires that any telemarketer tell the consumer several facts: the odds of winning a prize; that the consumer does not have to pay a fee or buy something to win a prize or participate; how to participate in the contest without paying anything, and any fee the consumer will have to pay or the conditions that must be met to receive a prize.
   The rule keeps telemarketers from falsifying any of these facts and the value of the prizes.
   Many sweepstakes arrive in the mail and instruct the consumer to respond by return mail or phone to enter the contest or collect a prize. For these sweepstakes, the Deceptive Mail Prevention and Enforcement Act protects consumers.
   This law bans claims that the consumer is a winner without having previously entered the contest; requirements that the consumer buy something to enter the contest; the mailing out of fake checks that don’t clearly state they are non-negotiable; anything, including seals, names or terms that imply an endorsement by the federal government.
   Also covered by the Deceptive Mail Pre-vention and Enforcement Act are skill contests.
Skill contests must reveal the terms, rules and conditions of the contest; the number of rounds the consumer must play to win the grand prize; the time frame used to determine a winner; the name of the contest’s sponsor; and a name and address that the consumer can use to contact the sponsor and ask to be removed from the mailing list.
   Another way for consumers to protect themselves is simply to ask to be removed from the mail and telephone contact lists.
   Both the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the Deceptive Mail Prevention and Enforcement Act require that companies maintain a do not contact list of consumers who have asked to be taken off mail or calling lists.
   To contact the FTC, who enforces both the laws, the consumer can call, toll free, 1-877-FTC-HELP, or write to Consumer Response Center, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580.
   Consumers can also contact the Direct Marketing Association and ask to placed on the do not contact list for the members of the association. To be removed from the list, consumers can write to the association at Direct Marketing Association, Mail Preference Service, PO Box 9014, Farmingdale, N.Y. 11735-9014.
   Finally, consumers can contact Call For Action, a network of radio and television station hotlines that can offer help to consumers, at 301-657-7940, or write, Call For Action, 5272 River Road, Suite 300, Bethesda, Md. 20816.