It's summer, and time for some of the scams to start coming around again.

Several of the newsgroups have reported unofficial-looking teen boys knocking on the door at night, trying to solicit subscriptions to the Pasadena Star-News.  (One member reported that, after demurring on the subscription, the boys asked if they could have some wine instead!)  The newspaper/magazine subscription scam seems to come around every few months.  We received this from Patty Bauer, who was hit by something similar this Christmas:

At Xmas time around the 15th of December we had two high school boys come to our door soliciting magazines. We unfortunately bought into it and have now lost $100.00. We were to receive our first set of magazines within 120 days which would have been in April.  

In the meantime I tried to contact the Corporate Company (United Subscription Agency) but had no luck. No return phone calls, faxes, e-mails from the company. Sheriff’s department didn’t have complaints so I called Better Business Bureau, they have them rated as a “F”. Corporate Company USA is in Vero Beach, Florida but the receipts given to us were from New Generation Reader Service and Team USA #009, Valencia, CA (Independent Contractors of USA.)

The Federal Trade Commission has a website about telemarketer and door-to-door subscription sales here,