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The Kitchen Table

Publisher's Clearing House Won't Deal With My Friend

8 years ago

An acquaintance of mine recently told me of a strange- sounding thing that happened to her. She and her husband have ordered things from Publisher's Clearing House for a number of years. (I admit I wouldn't do that, nor did I realize they sell things other than magazines.)

She has suddenly stopped receiving any mail from them although her husband still gets it. She called to ask why and was told that the U.S. government forbade them to send her anything. Have you ever heard of such a thing?

She also used to order from the Blair catalog but the catalogs have stopped coming. She has not called them.

Sometime in the past they had several checks stolen. Could this have any bearing on the situation?

I have always had the opposite situation-trying to get the mail to stop.

Would appreciate any light on the subject.

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Comments (4)

User
8 years ago
If she really wants to know, she should call Publisher's Clearing House again
and ask for clarification. If they can't clarify, they should be able to
refer her to someone who can.
jewelisfabulous
8 years ago
Did your friend accidently sign herself up for the Do Not Mail database? It's similar to the government's Do Not Call database.
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Pistachios (Zone 7)
8 years ago
Agree with the previous poster on the do not mail list (DMA choice, etc.) and I would also tell her to run free credit reports on her and her husband to ensure their credit is okay since they had checks stolen.
plllog
8 years ago
If she hasn't checked the credit agencies, she should do so immediately. Everyone can get a free report annually from all three agencies, and they have it now that if you ask for it once you'll get all three. There's a government website (Federal Trade Commission) which explains it and has a link to the place where you get the report:
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0155-free-credit-reports

She should check very carefully that all the entries on the report are correct for her and contact the companies immediately if there are errors. If someone has been scamming her credit, it might take a long time to clear up. She should definitely start by informing the agencies that several checks were stolen. She should also get a new checking account.

That might not be why these companies have ceased contact, though it could be the theif changing her address, but she should definitely contact them and ask if someone has been using her name/information. The problem could just be that they've been purging their lists. Unfortunately, the only time I've heard of the government requiring companies to cease contact is in cases of debt collection harassment or ongoing litigation. If there really has been identity theft, your friend should get an attorney or agency that specializes in untangling these issues as soon as possible.

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