Wednesday, August 19, 2009

I have Traits! Rare, Hidden Traits!

"Tyler, please forgive us, but we have just taken a closer look at your profile. It turns out you're more special than any of us imagined! Did you know that you possess some very rare, hidden traits?"

So, it turns out that my Mom was right. There IS something special about me! And I have a letter to prove it! I even share some of these rare, hidden traits with a Famous Person (someone you would instantly recognize, he's on TV every night...). Can you believe it?

Only problem is, that I am not quite sure who wrote me the letter. They can't tell me any more than that they are "an exclusive association, a secret society". So I guess I can't really find out what they are all about, and why they have found me to be so special, can I? I mean, the only choice I have is to just fill out the "Free-Membership Invitation Form" and fax it back by Friday. (Holy Cow! That is just Two Days Away!) Then I can finally discover (absolutely FREE!) what my rare, hidden traits are and the "Greatest Kept Secrets" that will teach me how to use my rare, hidden traits to:
-Learn EXACTLY what to do to make $5,000, $10,000 even $100,000 CASH!
-Prosper in EVERY area of my life: emotionally, personally, physically, romantically, and financially!
-Learn how to control ANYONE and make any man or woman like me, admire me, or love me!
-All the money, power, and romantic love I've ever wanted can come to me Easily, Effortlessly, and Automatically!

Can you believe it?

Neither can I... (And I better not quote anymore of the letter; besides the ominous warning that these words are meant for me only, the whole thing is Copyrighted... You know, just in case I want to reproduce it somewhere...)

Well, fortunately for me, I have a friend. His name is Google, and he has tons of information on many different topics. Tonight, I asked him if he knew anything about the fax number at the end of this letter. Wow. The things he said! Let me just share a few of the more interesting ones...

The very first hit on the search is a site called "The Ripoff Report". Not an auspicious beginning for my new friends. But here I learn two things:
A. I am not the only person to have ever received this letter. So much for my "Rare" traits...
B. The mysterious "association" also goes by the name "Nouveau Society Neo Tech".
The rest of the information at this site is mostly opinion (including one posting by a supporter! Who is Not Paid at all for his/her Support!)

The rest of the results for searching just the Fax number are very similar. Lots of sites where folks list phone numbers of bill collectors, pushy salesmen, and fraudulent auto warranty firms. And, apparently, secret societies... So I moved on to search for the name of the (not so secret) association: "Nouveau Society Neo Tech".

First hit is a website called: "Corporate-Review.com". This site seems to review a few dozen common scams and MLM schemes. Kind of slim on real info, but at least it claims that the association is operated by a single family headed by one Wallace Ward (among other pseudonyms...). Mr. Ward has apparently written a series of books containing the "Greatest Kept Secrets" and membership in the association will allow you to purchase the entire series. (That's right... there is an entire series.)

Not satisfied with such a slim report, I checked out a few more of the results from sites like:
-419legal.org - Key quote: "Do we really need to warn you to avoid this one?"
-scams.net - Still pretty slim on real info, heavy on sarcasm. I did learn that this letter has been going out since at least 2005.
-able2know.org - A discussion board with plenty of supporters of the program. However, I honestly had some trouble following the logic of many of the "supporters" Key Quote: "They are selling they materials what about I bought the material even before I bought the material, I was being harrassed jobs after jobs coworkers telling me how talented I was, and I was just puzzled because I didnt tell anything, I have a video of Mark hamilton I guess" - Not too sure what poor Mark has to do with anything, but this was one of the more cogent sentences...
-wikipedia.org - Finally, that ubiquitous fount of internet knowledge. Finally some somewhat useful information, such as other names for the association, and some clarification on poor Mark. (Apparently he is a marketing official and has authorized his apprentices to drop the $350 initiation fee so that they only have to make a $100 sell to their initial contacts... Go figure. I thought it was free...)

So what have we learned? Not much more than I had already deduced when I pulled the colorful envelope out of the mailbox. (You know the ones, they are made to look like an airmail envelope.) A bunch of crap from someone trying to make their envelope look more important. And as I read the entire 8-page letter my stomach repeatedly churned with disgust. The entire sales pitch is aimed with laserlike precision at people who are despondent with life, lonely, depressed, and looking for a way out. They purposely word their pitch to sound like it has been personalized for the recipient, and that they genuinely care to help because "You are special!" And, in a hallmark move for any scam, they isolate and hurry their victims. "This is Confidential! For Your Eyes Only!" and a deadline only five days after the date on the letter. (Which was only two days after I pulled it out of the mailbox. Who wants to bet I could mail it back in four and they would make an exception for me?)

The saddest part for me is thinking of all the poor souls out there who will see this as their own personal light at the end of the tunnel. There has to be some response, for this scam to have continued for four years. Even scammers get tired of running a scam that gets no suckers. Why do people fall for stuff like this? As I learned a while ago, people fall for stuff like this because it hits them at precisely the right time. (Or wrong, depending on your perspective.) A man receives this letter on the day his unemployment runs out and the car breaks down again. A woman receives this letter the week after her teenage son takes his own life. A retiree gets this letter instead of the one he was expecting from his son - and has been waiting for for six months.

How do we combat it? The best way is knowledge. Spread the word to everyone you know. The three cardinal rules of scam recognition:
1. If it seems too good to be true, it is.
2. If they want you to hurry up and keep it to yourself, then put it down for a week, and talk to everyone you can get to listen to you.
3. If it seems too good to be true, it is.

Spread the word. Don't let someone you love be victimized.

48 comments:

  1. please forgive us but we have just taken a closer look at your profile
    This letter came today (17 Aug 2010) -it was SO funny!!
    Return address given is:

    PO Box 95338
    Las Vegas, Nevada 89193-5338
    USA

    'There has existed for many years an exclusive association, a secret society, ......' -Hey might be true! (btw we're in Australia)

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  2. Australia huh? That is very interesting. This post continues to get the most hits of any on my blog. This tells me that the letters are still going out everyday. The bad news is that this is probably because too many people are still taking the bait.

    Thanks for helping to spread the word!

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  3. Thanks, Tweety. I just opened that letter today. Is was funny and sad. I was just curious what they were going to do next to get my money. Another website google sent me to said I would pay nothing NOW, but would be given payment links, etc. after accepting.

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  4. OHHH I am sooo hurt, I thought it was just meeee! I already knew how special I am, so I pretended it was a letter from my Dad who just died who never really said anything remotely like that to me. (It's ok, Papa, that was you, not me!)

    I hope these people contract a rare form of herpes that makes them go slowly blind and eats at their intestines so that they eventually implode.

    I have no love or mercy for those who prey on people...
    I am in Oregon, my letter 'came from' Dover, DE

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  5. Yeah,Ive received two of these letters at separate addresses...both letters came from Dover,DE. I stay pretty well under the radar(no credit cards,mailings,cell phone contracts,ect) and they keep finding me. Who the heck are these people? What's the scam?

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  6. I just got one of these letters and that's how I found this site. The return address is in Dallas TX now.

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  7. Wow - I continue to be baffled at the amount of traffic this entry generates. I am afraid this means that they must still be making money off of desperate, lonely people! Help spread the word - keep someone you love from wasting their hard-earned money!

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  8. Just received my letter today. I also received a similar letter about a year or so ago. Return address is PO BOX 560627. Dallas TX 75356-0627

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  9. I did research on this, and apparently if you respond to the letter and fill out the form, you will recsive another letter that asks you to pay $140 dollars to reveal the real secrets! What a laugh!

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  10. Received this bs today, letter posted from Taiwan, to be returned to Las Vegas...

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  11. Me too - Just received the letter and feeling very down with life at the moment - At lease I know it's someone playing with my mind - but just don,t this insincerity - Thanks to all of you leaving comments - May you to lead to real peace of mind and know happiness - SEE THAT COSTS NOTHING MERRY CHRISTMAS JACKIE

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  12. yaaaayyyy, i'm special:) got one too, I live in Switzerland. I had a good laugh

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  13. You all are special, no need to get a confirmation by letter :-)

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  14. LOL! GOT ONE LAST YEAR AND JUST BINNED IT -I KNOW I'M SPECIAL TO GOD -
    K. FROM SCOTLAND UK

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  15. 2012/03/09 - just got one in Canada. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. It's sad people fall for this crap.

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  16. i just got this amazing 'lifechanging' (not) letter from Brunei,Darussalam, and i live in England. i'd just love to know how these people get our details?????? the return address was Las Vegas PO box 95338. AS THEY SAY,IF IT'S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, THEN IT IS!!!!!!!

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  17. Thanx guys for all your comments that opened our eyes in this letters we received.

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  18. Got one too in Canada. A good thing that we can all find about these scams through the internet.

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  19. Just got mine today!

    Southern Ontario

    I'm so excited! I feel like I belong to somthing. I....I....I....LOL!

    I'd like to hogtie these guys. Then, slingshot golf balls at THEIR balls!!!

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  20. I got mine yesterday in Melbourne, Australia . What would we have done before Mr. Google ?!!

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  21. Got the same letter a few days ago in Australia...thank you Google and this site. It was a laugh to read and whilst reading it I could not help but think she, Tiffany the letter's signee, had sold her soul to the devil by joining his realm in HELL to obtain these things. It is always good to remember that nothing is free and all get rich quick methods come with traps or consequences. These letters are obviously a money scam that takes advantages of the bad times that are happening in peoples lives and these people hope will be fixed by the letters promises. We create our own destiny from the positive circle of influence and successes we each display/live and create from day to day, in other worlds our own positive realm.

    Not happy someone has my details and is trying to scam me and other people around the world. I wish everyone who has commented on this site happy lives created by the special, gifted and unique trait people you all are. Hopefully our comments will save others who receive these letters.

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  22. I knew it was a scam as I am quite sane and happy (Jesus loves me) but having read these comments it has answered my question. What's the catch. Thanks to you all

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  23. Had the same, mine came through today, I live in birmingham,uk. I laughed through the whole thing! Scum that scam...these people are disgusting!

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  24. Just recieved this (Hertfordshire UK) the letter made me laugh telling me I'm more special than I could possibly imagine!! Just want to know how they got my details!!

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  25. Just received my letter today, I live in Ottawa, and having had a rough Monday at work I appreciated the humour I found in my "rare traits", blah, blah. Unbelievably brutal!

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  26. I got the letter today. The most amazing thing is:
    These people have costs, they spend money on websites, letters, etc.
    But apparantly it is a profitable business, otherwise they would stop, i asume.
    Conclusion:
    So there must be a percentage of people that believe in this!
    Are people really that stupid?

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  27. Got one today... I´m from Sweden.

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  28. Another one from Australia here. Opened the letter and laughed out loud through the first page. Then, if you just read the first few words of each new paragraph you realise it's the same BS all the way through 7 pages of the worst sales pitch I have ever encountered. I wonder if their special traits or powers let them see in advance that I was going laugh and ignore their special (once in a lifetime) letter?

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  29. They must be getting desperate, I received one in New Zealand.

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  30. they must be getting desperate, I received one in New Zealand

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  31. Why is Johnny Carson (rip)sending me junk mail? Or would that be Bill O'Reilly? ~shudder~

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  32. yea, i was that stupid sent them money twice what i received in return any person would know, they kept talking about a ten second miracle,ah thats what i was after never got it ,today i kick myself in the ass for being so stupid.my lesson was expensive,, so don,t get hooked like me .






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  33. Got my letter today, being so special and giftedl I would have expected more than just a scripted letter through the door, a celebrity, private jet and a week in a posh hotel would be a more convincing start

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  34. Got mine today, I am in UK

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  35. As above.. got mine today in UK.. Hah!

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  36. I got mine today, Friday. But as I have to reply by Friday I seem to have missed out. Never mind!

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  37. I got the letter today. I also received one about six years ago, so they have been conning people for quite awhile. The one I got back in 2007 included part one of the manuscript and ask for you to pay for the remaining copy's. If you are not expecting a letter via air mail then do not even bother to open it. I live in the UK.

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  38. As above.. got mine today in UK.. How do they get away with it

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  39. Ron from Australia, received mine last week, have now read it, thought I'd Google it if there were any complaints, well i am stunned at the response and hope these morons are held to account and jailed for their devious way to grab money.

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  40. My 86-year old Dad got this exact letter today, mailed from the Philippines. We live in Canada.

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  41. I got the same mail today in German. I live in Germany. The return address is PO Box 95338 - Las Vegas..

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  42. Got one today in the UK. Didn't laugh as I know there are many who will fall for this and waste their precious time and money chasing empty dreams. No matter how disappointed they may be with their life right now (enough to reply to this scam) imagine how they will feel when it comes to nothing.

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  43. got mine today,thought "i'll google that po box.guess what,up came this blog.
    has anyone sent for the "free" secrets?

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  44. I got one back in 2007 and yes it is sad to get your hopes up thinking you actually have x-men powers not knowing the effects of the purpose of this letter which is making your disappointed situation alot more worst

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  45. I got mine 3 days ago, I laughed thinking people nowadays would do anything to make money. They called themselves `The Network` in my letter. An when I searched the entire address on google, well, it only brings up a very well known funeral pallor for memorial services and crematorium. I was shoked, what a SCAM! If anyone receives this letter, please don't reply, tear it up. Here their full address;
    The Network,
    10624 S. Eastern Avenue,
    Suite A-958, Henderson, Nevada 89015-2982,
    LAS VEGAS, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
    Please stay safe and pass on the info. (From U.K)

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  46. Got my letter today and yes I googled it and came to this site. I too am in the opinion of if ' if it seems to good to be true' , then it is.

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  47. Got one today addressed to the former resident at my address. Particularly laughed at the "it's our business to keep tabs on people". Considering the addressee has been dead for nearly 8 years it must be some network - even extends beyond the grave. Paper will be useful for lighting my stove.

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  48. Just balony..... sent out to con the gullible, or those too trusting to "check it out" I already know how special I am anyway. Why would I or "you" need to trust the contents of an anonymous chain letter...... More material for my shredder.

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