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What Was In the Mail Today, 06.18.2005?

Today, the mailbox contained:

A subscription offer for the Harvard Business Review

A yellow postcard that says,

Dear .....

We are trying to reach you with 
Good News!  It is real important that you 
call Toll free 1-800-745-5757.  

                 Thanks 
                 Debbie Peti.  

               Call 10 am to 8:30 pm EST
                    Monday thru Friday
The return address was:
C.R.C.
1383 S Missouri Ave
Clearwater, FL 33756-6500


Here are scans of the postcard
Front
CRC Yellow Postcard Front
Back
C.R.C. Yellow Postcard Back

I searched on the business name and the phone number and found that this is apparently some kind of magazine scam.

Someone else has posted a photo of their postcard on Flickr.

  • How do you know?

    In reference to “itsnotascam!” .. You’re not getting any sort of deal what so ever. In fact, you are basically getting ripped off. You might think it is not a scam, but it really is. That person you spoke to probably just lied and said that they were Michelle Barbaa or whatever. If you read posts from the years passed the name changes as well as the company name and address. How can these people be legit if they keep changing important business information?

    Also, what about all those people above who tried to cancel and were told that they could not? How do you think that those people are going to get their money back?

    Maybe you’re just one of their employee’s trying to make people who view this website feel comfortable once again with your SCAM!

  • How do you know?

    In reference to “itsnotascam!” .. You’re not getting any sort of deal what so ever. In fact, you are basically getting ripped off. You might think it is not a scam, but it really is. That person you spoke to probably just lied and said that they were Michelle Barbaa or whatever. If you read posts from the years passed the name changes as well as the company name and address. How can these people be legit if they keep changing important business information?

    Also, what about all those people above who tried to cancel and were told that they could not? How do you think that those people are going to get their money back?

    Maybe you’re just one of their employee’s trying to make people who view this website feel comfortable once again with your SCAM!

  • Rick jimenez

    I got it too! But, I called and was entered in the drawing. Then I read all your comments and called back. The lady was really rude and said that I was beign irrational for wanting to take my name out..so she hung up on me..I called back and told them what happened. This time a man answered and was very nice and told me that I would be taken out of the drawing and mailing list…I guess you just have to sound pissed off for anyone to pay attention to you….THANKS for the info…..

  • Rick jimenez

    I got it too! But, I called and was entered in the drawing. Then I read all your comments and called back. The lady was really rude and said that I was beign irrational for wanting to take my name out..so she hung up on me..I called back and told them what happened. This time a man answered and was very nice and told me that I would be taken out of the drawing and mailing list…I guess you just have to sound pissed off for anyone to pay attention to you….THANKS for the info…..

  • asif

    I got my card two days ago like I called, I gave the control number she confirmed my name but when I asked what this was about she just said a you will get mony I Hung up. I also just got my capitel one card. should I close and change all of my accounts?

  • asif

    I got my card two days ago like I called, I gave the control number she confirmed my name but when I asked what this was about she just said a you will get mony I Hung up. I also just got my capitel one card. should I close and change all of my accounts?

  • Jane

    I just wanted to let you know that this scam is still going strong. I got a card just like this today in the mail. Your post was from 6/18/05 today is 1/09/09.

  • Jane

    I just wanted to let you know that this scam is still going strong. I got a card just like this today in the mail. Your post was from 6/18/05 today is 1/09/09.

  • Kay

    I work for a teleservices company. Though we are not affiliated at all with F.R.C. and we don’t scam people; I can tell you that when you are calling F.R.C.’s phone number, you are calling a teleservices company. To those of you who have been thinking that you are ‘blocking’ your phone number before you call F.R.C, either to hide your identity for your own safety or to make a ‘prank call’, you’re not succeeding. When you call a call center such as F.R.C., it is impossible to ‘block’ them from having your telephone number. They can’t/won’t tell you this when you call; but I assure you that the only reason we ask for your phone number is to verify that you are calling from your own personal phone and not someone else’s. Also, because you may have more than one phone number. When we receive a ‘prank’ or ‘obscene’ call at the place I work at, we note your phone number, report it and place it in a database. One ‘prank’ call is not likely to get you reported to your local police station(prank/obscene calls are illegal in almost every state)but we do have a ‘cutoff’ number that determines when we do report these calls to the proper authorities. It also depends on the severity & nature of the call. This is just a head’s up- dialing *67 does NOT ‘block’ your telephone number from our systems.

  • Kay

    I work for a teleservices company. Though we are not affiliated at all with F.R.C. and we don’t scam people; I can tell you that when you are calling F.R.C.’s phone number, you are calling a teleservices company. To those of you who have been thinking that you are ‘blocking’ your phone number before you call F.R.C, either to hide your identity for your own safety or to make a ‘prank call’, you’re not succeeding. When you call a call center such as F.R.C., it is impossible to ‘block’ them from having your telephone number. They can’t/won’t tell you this when you call; but I assure you that the only reason we ask for your phone number is to verify that you are calling from your own personal phone and not someone else’s. Also, because you may have more than one phone number. When we receive a ‘prank’ or ‘obscene’ call at the place I work at, we note your phone number, report it and place it in a database. One ‘prank’ call is not likely to get you reported to your local police station(prank/obscene calls are illegal in almost every state)but we do have a ‘cutoff’ number that determines when we do report these calls to the proper authorities. It also depends on the severity & nature of the call. This is just a head’s up- dialing *67 does NOT ‘block’ your telephone number from our systems.

  • julia

    Thank you,I just got one of these today.

  • julia

    Thank you,I just got one of these today.

  • hmv

    Thanks! I got mine today, January 21st, 2009! BAD NEWS. . . this is a scam! ;-) Plus, now they are using F.R.C. as the heading for their return address, thinking that people won’t make a connection to their old C.R.C address. My suggestion, shred it, because your home address is on it!

  • hmv

    Thanks! I got mine today, January 21st, 2009! BAD NEWS. . . this is a scam! ;-) Plus, now they are using F.R.C. as the heading for their return address, thinking that people won’t make a connection to their old C.R.C address. My suggestion, shred it, because your home address is on it!

  • scam the scammers

    Yes they will sell your information, especially since they don’t state that they won’t. Guess what? If you’re getting this crap, you’re already on a list that’s been sold a few times over.

    Aside from that, I don’t think this is too bad. It’s similar to the timeshare sales things etc. You have the opportunity to get a bunch of free crap, take advantage of them. I got 215 dollars of as vouchers and a free trip for $6.55. They have promotional / marketing budgets and my aim is to suck them dry.

    I use my bank debit card account which is watched closely by my bank. After the initial charges and receipt of my free crap, I cancel the accounts and instruct my bank to not pay out any charges to my account except for a pre approved list (my auto pay bills etc.).

    Scam the scammers, take their money. Its easy.

    Your information isn’t private any more. The government sells your info, and so do all the companies you have transactions with. This is the world we live in.

  • scam the scammers

    Yes they will sell your information, especially since they don’t state that they won’t. Guess what? If you’re getting this crap, you’re already on a list that’s been sold a few times over.

    Aside from that, I don’t think this is too bad. It’s similar to the timeshare sales things etc. You have the opportunity to get a bunch of free crap, take advantage of them. I got 215 dollars of as vouchers and a free trip for $6.55. They have promotional / marketing budgets and my aim is to suck them dry.

    I use my bank debit card account which is watched closely by my bank. After the initial charges and receipt of my free crap, I cancel the accounts and instruct my bank to not pay out any charges to my account except for a pre approved list (my auto pay bills etc.).

    Scam the scammers, take their money. Its easy.

    Your information isn’t private any more. The government sells your info, and so do all the companies you have transactions with. This is the world we live in.

  • Erika

    i dont know what i should do!!! i feel like SUCH an imbecile; i recieved the card in the mail and i was so suprised to see what it was i called right away. I was talkign to a magazine associate person when i told him i wasnt interested in magazines, so he transferred me to some girl who told me i would get a 100$ gas voucher and a bunch of coupon booklets for restaurants and stores for 1.99$ on a credit card; i asked her a million questions, and then gave her the credit number. I feel like SUCH an idiot. now that i looked up the company, i feel even worse, i guess i fall for things too easily. should i cancel my credit card?!!?

  • Erika

    i dont know what i should do!!! i feel like SUCH an imbecile; i recieved the card in the mail and i was so suprised to see what it was i called right away. I was talkign to a magazine associate person when i told him i wasnt interested in magazines, so he transferred me to some girl who told me i would get a 100$ gas voucher and a bunch of coupon booklets for restaurants and stores for 1.99$ on a credit card; i asked her a million questions, and then gave her the credit number. I feel like SUCH an idiot. now that i looked up the company, i feel even worse, i guess i fall for things too easily. should i cancel my credit card?!!?

  • ProsperitySavvyWoman

    Got mine a few days ago and was immediately suspicious – thanks so much for this blog! I found it right away when searching Yahoo for the name FRC and address. Yellow card – everything the same. I DEFINITELY won’t bother to call!

    I’ve also had recent dealings with Chase — Hmmmmm….

    HI ERIKA – it could happen to anyone especially when we’re busy & caught off guard or worse, stressed – as many of us are these days.

    IF you decide to cancel the credit card, you MUST not use it. I’ve read that if you don’t use the card and you cancel the a/c they can’t charge you any fees. BUT – if you’re granted credit and then you close the a/c it could make a temporary ding on your credit score. :-(

    Call them as soon as you get any customer service info, which they’re required to give you along with documentation of the rate, terms, etc. See if you want to keep it…

    I actually did go through one of those endless series of offers (online) to get to the “golden egg” once about 6 years ago and I DID GET $75 VISA gift card.

    They’ve made them a lot harder to meet all the requirements now. (TIP: I keep a separate yahoo email address to give out on those types of things so my regular email doesn;t get bogged down with SPAM! ;-)

    Thanks again for this site/post and everyone sharing their experiences!

    Robin

    PS – I’m a business consultant and my business is NOT a scam!!!

    If you’d like to learn more – men & women – contact me via http://ladiesyoucanhaveitall.prosperitysavvywoman.com. You can also first check out my business partners at http://www.melaleuca.com/Introduction. If you contact them directly, please don’t forget to tell them who sent you! ;-)

    Thank you!

  • ProsperitySavvyWoman

    Got mine a few days ago and was immediately suspicious – thanks so much for this blog! I found it right away when searching Yahoo for the name FRC and address. Yellow card – everything the same. I DEFINITELY won’t bother to call!

    I’ve also had recent dealings with Chase — Hmmmmm….

    HI ERIKA – it could happen to anyone especially when we’re busy & caught off guard or worse, stressed – as many of us are these days.

    IF you decide to cancel the credit card, you MUST not use it. I’ve read that if you don’t use the card and you cancel the a/c they can’t charge you any fees. BUT – if you’re granted credit and then you close the a/c it could make a temporary ding on your credit score. :-(

    Call them as soon as you get any customer service info, which they’re required to give you along with documentation of the rate, terms, etc. See if you want to keep it…

    I actually did go through one of those endless series of offers (online) to get to the “golden egg” once about 6 years ago and I DID GET $75 VISA gift card.

    They’ve made them a lot harder to meet all the requirements now. (TIP: I keep a separate yahoo email address to give out on those types of things so my regular email doesn;t get bogged down with SPAM! ;-)

    Thanks again for this site/post and everyone sharing their experiences!

    Robin

    PS – I’m a business consultant and my business is NOT a scam!!!

    If you’d like to learn more – men & women – contact me via http://ladiesyoucanhaveitall.prosperitysavvywoman.com. You can also first check out my business partners at http://www.melaleuca.com/Introduction. If you contact them directly, please don’t forget to tell them who sent you! ;-)

    Thank you!

  • RunningWithScissors

    I received the card in the mail today. The phone number has changed. It is now 1-888-673-5221. I guess Michelle Barbaa just wants to say hi, huh?? lol

  • RunningWithScissors

    I received the card in the mail today. The phone number has changed. It is now 1-888-673-5221. I guess Michelle Barbaa just wants to say hi, huh?? lol

  • Lancaster

    I can’t believe this stuff still works. I knew it smelled fishy the second I picked it up. They sent this to my daughter who is in college, luckily I intercepted it. When I read what happened to Erica, I thought of how my daughter could have also fallen for this. I have no tolerance for this type of scamming.

    I called them to waste their time. Once on the phone they asked for my control number, I gave them every number on the card except for the control number, I even made up a few numbers. I asked her if she had ever heard of the internet? I then informed her that I was on a blog that listed over 450 negative comments/complaints about their company and how thankful I was that there was information so readily available about this SCAM! Thanks to this site and others, we won’t be scammed by these losers anytime soon.

  • Lancaster

    I can’t believe this stuff still works. I knew it smelled fishy the second I picked it up. They sent this to my daughter who is in college, luckily I intercepted it. When I read what happened to Erica, I thought of how my daughter could have also fallen for this. I have no tolerance for this type of scamming.

    I called them to waste their time. Once on the phone they asked for my control number, I gave them every number on the card except for the control number, I even made up a few numbers. I asked her if she had ever heard of the internet? I then informed her that I was on a blog that listed over 450 negative comments/complaints about their company and how thankful I was that there was information so readily available about this SCAM! Thanks to this site and others, we won’t be scammed by these losers anytime soon.

  • http://anmar.baitalmal.com/ Anmar

    Same Card Here!!

    Different Company Name Though:

    F.R.C. Instead Of C.R.C.

    Pour Guys.

    Thanks!

  • http://anmar.baitalmal.com/ Anmar

    Same Card Here!!

    Different Company Name Though:

    F.R.C. Instead Of C.R.C.

    Pour Guys.

    Thanks!

  • Kalamazoo, MI

    I got Mine today March 26, 2009… Like almost everyone else came over the internet and read all the crap about this scammers… Thanks for the warning!

  • Kalamazoo, MI

    I got Mine today March 26, 2009… Like almost everyone else came over the internet and read all the crap about this scammers… Thanks for the warning!

  • saji

    i received this too… and guess this is their successful third year :O e mail me if you guys get any new info about this

  • saji

    i received this too… and guess this is their successful third year :O e mail me if you guys get any new info about this

  • Ina

    Just got mine today, 5/05/09.

    I was immediately suspicious, since no clue of what this “Good News” was appeared on the card, and as a college student, I went to the internet to search for what this “F.R.C” organization was. First thing that popped up was the fact that it was a scam. Thank goodness for the internet!

    The number on my card is 1-888-673-5219, from Michelle Barbaa. The return address was 1381 S Missouri Ave.

    I’m just wondering how they got my and everyone else’s information.

  • Ina

    Just got mine today, 5/05/09.

    I was immediately suspicious, since no clue of what this “Good News” was appeared on the card, and as a college student, I went to the internet to search for what this “F.R.C” organization was. First thing that popped up was the fact that it was a scam. Thank goodness for the internet!

    The number on my card is 1-888-673-5219, from Michelle Barbaa. The return address was 1381 S Missouri Ave.

    I’m just wondering how they got my and everyone else’s information.

  • Roz

    I got this postcard also, called since I already knew it was a magazine place and asked them remove all of my information from their database. The guy refused and said he would only put me on the Do Not Call List and then hung up on me. How the F did they get my information in the first place?? The more people file a complaint with the BBB there the easier it would be to get them shut down. It is not really a scam, they are just like any other magazine comapny, they just want your money, you just have to be smart enough to not give it to them.

  • Roz

    I got this postcard also, called since I already knew it was a magazine place and asked them remove all of my information from their database. The guy refused and said he would only put me on the Do Not Call List and then hung up on me. How the F did they get my information in the first place?? The more people file a complaint with the BBB there the easier it would be to get them shut down. It is not really a scam, they are just like any other magazine comapny, they just want your money, you just have to be smart enough to not give it to them.

  • Yvonnedra

    So I was wondering what the dried red things that seemed so delicious on the Rachel Ray show about cheese? Thank you.

  • http://stevejenkins.us SteveJ

    You've got the wrong Steve Jenkins. Steve “the Cheese Man” Jenkins' website can be found here – http://www.fairwaymarket.com/cheese.html

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