Scammers At Your Door- A PSA

So my sister was telling me that there were people arrested in her neighborhood for selling magazines as a fundraiser. It seems that there was no fundraiser. Ballsy, huh? So you can imagine how stupid I feel right now... I bought magazines from these people.

Yep, this kid (early 20s is a kid to me) comes to my door, says he goes to the local community college, that his family lives just up the street (we just moved here, I wouldn't know any different) and he is selling magazines as a fundraiser for his broadcasting class. He seems nice, very personable, and even though I can get magazines at very discounted rates through my sister or sister-in-law as they work for a distributor, I like to help kids work toward their goals. So I bought two magazines.

Well, it turns out that this kid doesn't go to college, doesn't live down the street and isn't trying to raise money for anyone- except himself. He was just a door-to-door salesman. According to the police I will get the magazines (if the guy who sold them to me wasn't one of the 3 arrested and the police didn't confiscate my checks). The fraud part was the stories they were telling to get the sales.

So now I am waiting for the police to get back to me about my checks. If they don't have them I will have to stop them through my bank- at $30 per check. Still less than the checks were written for, but still. The officer I spoke with said that some of the local banks are waiving the cancel fees because of the fraud. I will have to see if my bank will do that. Or maybe just charge me for one check and not two.

Now, here's the warning for everyone: the company that is doing this is called Integrity or Integrity Sale. On their order forms is the web address of www.integritysale.com. It is a phony web address. The business address is Integrity Sales LLC, PO Box 10025, Glendale, AZ 85318-0025. Do Not Buy Magazines From This Company According to the local police they arrested 3 of the 5 people who were working in this area, held them, fined them and let them go when they served their time/paid their fine. As far as the police know they are on their way to Utah. Heads up Utah.


Update: my bank, Principal Bank, reversed the stop payment fees so I am not out anything. They are local as Principal Financial is based in Des Moines but are an online entity. If you are looking for a new bank keep them in mind.