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Sweepstakes can be fun - but shouldn't
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Sweepstakes offers sweep savings
out the door
Sweepstakes 'scams' unveiled through
series
Daughters vent their frustrations
at sweepstakes
Another area person also believed
he was a winner
USPE responds to local customers'
complaints
Attorney General wants to better
the odds in sweepstakes
Sweepstakes victim goes public
Sweepstakes industry hits unlucky
streak
Psychology lures people into buying
Sweepstakes victim getting her
money back
Sweepstakes legislation may carry
local victim's name
Buying club complaints piling up
Here's the key: Think, call BBB
before you sign
NEWS-SUN, EVENING STAR
& HERALD-
REPUBLICAN
|
Daughters vent their frustration at sweepstakes
Contests have taken
bulk of mother's money
Second of three
parts
Originally printed in The Evening
Star 1/5/99
By CINDY BEVINGTON
*The names in this story have been changed to protect the
identities of the victims and families involved, who live in
northeast Indiana.
ANGOLA - Suzy* believes with all her heart that she is winning
$3 million from a sweepstakes sponsored by the United States
Purchasing Exchange.
Her three daughters, however, believe otherwise. And now,
after years of watching their mother spend her entire savings
on merchandise she orders in hopes of better qualifying herself
to win, they are devastated to think their mother not only is
broke from buying the stuff, but still thinks she will win.
"We found out what she was doing when we started seeing
all these boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff stacking up in her
garage," says Chelle*. "We first noticed about five
years ago. But it really got bad in the last three years."
"We told her she's nuts, that she'll never win that money.
Her whole garage, her attic, half a closet,under the beds, behind
the couches, in the utility room - the stuff is everywhere,"
Jacy* goes on. "We even have probably a U-Haul truck of
it at our own houses."
Pots and pans. Dishes. Men's tools. Jewelry boxes. Toys. Puzzles.
Games. Bath robes. Dozens and dozens of clocks. The list of merchandise
their mother has ordered goes on and on. And the stack continues
to grow, even though Suzy does use some of the merchandise as
gifts.
Her daughters have mixed emotions about Suzy's obsession with
entering the mail-order contests, including Publisher's Clearing
House and American Family Publishers.
On the one hand, it's her money, says Chelle. "And if
that's what she wants to spend it on, then how can we tell her
what she can do with it?"
On the other hand, their mother has gone broke by continuing
to purchase so much mail-order merchandise, all in the hopes
of winning the "promised" millionaire prizes. "She's
75 years old and she was set for life, and now she isn't,"
Chelle says. "She's spent all her money on this stuff. To
think, she worked all her life and now she has nothing."
The sisters believe their mother has spent at least $50,000
on mail-order purchases. They haven't added it all up, yet, to
determine exactly how much Suzy spent on each mail-order house,
but they have seen the receipts, they say.
The women found out their mother had spent her entire savings
and even cashed in her individual retirement accounts when their
mother's bank asked them to help her.
She was overdrawn, the women say. Her utilities had been shut
off. Since then, over the months, each of the three sisters has
given several thousand dollars, each, to help their mother keep
her bills paid - while she continues to spend most of her monthly
pension on merchandise orders, still in hopes of winning USPE's
$3 million sweepstakes.
They say they've read "all the fine print" of the
mail-order house's mailings to their mother, that they've told
her over and over the company's letters use the words "may"
and "possibly" and "if" in calling her a
winner.
They even pointed out that a LaGrange woman they all know,
another senior citizen, had a huge garage sale with the same
merchandise that Suzy buys. This woman, too, thought she was
USPE's "big" winner but she, too, has nothing to show
for it but boxes and boxes of unopened merchandise.
Still, Suzy doesn't listen. Instead, she believes she has
to order to be eligible to win. The ordering now has become a
mission, Suzy admits - she "has" to win, just to get
her $50,000 back, she insists.
Suzy did write USPE a letter telling the company she went
broke, the women say. The company replied with a letter asking
Suzy not to go over her budget. But their mother didn't listen.
And, the women say, even after their mother told them she'd gone
broke, the company continued to send "guaranteed winner"
letters to her.
When the women heard that Indiana Attorney General Jeff Modisett
is interested in hearing stories such as their mother's, they
eagerly said, yes, they would love to tell him about their mother.
And, they added, if there is any way possible for their mother
to get her money back, they would be glad to cooperate.
When Suzy heard that the attorney general is holding a national
meeting next month in Indianapolis with the other state attorneys
general to discuss mail order sweepstakes, she was concerned.
But, she said, she still believes she is USPE's "big"
winner this time. "I know I am," she insists. "But
if I'm not, if they're not telling me the truth, then I have
a surprise for them.
"I have all my canceled checks, all the money orders
and invoices I've ever received in the seven years since I've
been with them. And, I have every 'guaranteed winner' letter
they ever sent me.
"If I thought they were just taking my money, just using
me, I would be mad. They have built me up for seven years, and
seven years is long enough to wait.
"If they don't come through this time then, yes, I will
talk to the attorney general and show him everything, all of
the receipts and their promise letters - I've kept them all.
"But I just want to hold on until I find out who wins
this latest $3 million."
Wednesday: Attorney General Jeff Modisett's describes his
crusade against deceptive sweepstakes prize claims, and United
States Purchasing Exchange replies to local complaints.
|
STAR REPORTER'S
SWEEPSTAKES SERIES WINS NATIONAL AWARD
EXCLUSIVE TO THIS WEB SITE:
A letter to The Evening Star editor
from Indiana's Attorney General
Want to read another paper's stories
about sweepstake scams?
Why do the elderly seem more susceptible
to believing sweepstakes promises? Two experts give their opinions
Why do the elderly seem more susceptible
to believing sweepstakes promises? A gerontologist shares his
studies.
Iowa has seen it before
National issue, local example,
big news
Persons to contact if you believe you may be the victim
of a sweepstakes scam:
National Association of Attorneys
General
750 First Street, NE, Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20002
PH: (202) 326-6000
FAX: (202) 408-7014
Office of Attorney
General
Steve Carter
402 W. Washington St.
Fifth Floor
Indianapolis, IN 46204
PH: (317) 232-6201
FAX: (317) 232-7979
National Fraud Information Center 1-800-876-7060
National
Consumer's League
1-202-835-3323
Federal Trade Commission 1-877-382-4357
(toll free)
E-mail
Cindy Bevington
or Evening Star
editor Dave Kurtz.
WATCH FOR ADDITIONAL STORIES EXCLUSIVE TO THIS WEB SITE!
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