Every day, consumers throughout the United States fall prey to letters arriving in the mail from unscrupulous promoters using deceptive sales techniques and official-looking documents in order to get people to send them money.

Typically, these notices are sent by con artists whose sole purpose is to rip off consumers.

One perpetrator of such a fraud — Publishers Clearing House, a magazine marketing firm – last year paid a $34 million fine for sending out mailings that mislead consumers into believing they had already won a sweepstakes prize.

The US Postal Service is responsible for protecting American consumers from scams like this. In the 1990s, the Postal Service passed several laws that severely penalize criminals for using deceptive sales techniques or government look-alike mailings.

Ironically, a letter recently sent to thousands of unsuspecting Americans from the Republican National Committee – the fund-raising arm of the US political party that helped elect President George Bush – has now come under scrutiny by the Postal Service.

The reason: The RNC letter, which contains an official-looking autographed "gift" photo of Bush and a solicitation for money, asserts that the recipient is a "Sustaining Member of the Republican National Committee."

RNC insiders now admit the letters, sent to thousands of recipients , were addressed to people that they knew were not members of the Republican Party. In fact, Republican officials confess that the names came from commercial mailing lists routinely purchased by companies like Publishers Clearing House.

"It was a crap shoot, we were just gambling (that people who got the letters) were actually Republicans," admits Sue Gastow, the RNC’s director of membership.

Gastow adds, "We buy mailing lists from commercial companies – like Hammacher Schlemmer (a mail-order sporting goods company). There’s always a chance some people on the list are Republican. But we just don’t know….The Democrats do the very same thing."

Gastow was quick to boast that the "Dear Sustaining Member" mailing has been hugely successful. According to Gastow, the letter has enabled the RNC to rake in cash contributions from "at least 3,500 people each month."

If Gastow is correct, this means this single RNC letter, which is one of several dozen varieties, could be earning the Republican Party as much as $4.2 million a year.

Understandably, the RNC’s director of communications, Jim Dyke, is reluctant to talk about the "Dear Sustaining Member" letter.

In fact, when Strategic Policy first spoke to Dyke, he denied there is such a thing as a "Sustaining Member."

"We only have two members in each state," says Dyke. "As far as I know, those are the only real ‘members’ of the RNC." According to Dyke, this fact made inquiries about the legality of "Dear Sustaining Member" fund-raising letter irrelevant.

Later, however, Dyke conceded the letters are addressed to names selected from commercial mailing lists and repeatedly urge the Sustaining Member — whose full name is used throughout the message — to send in money as a means of affirming their membership in the Republican Party.

"I don’t see anything unseemly in this letter," says Dyke. "I would assume the person receiving it would either send in a check and keep the gift picture, or throw it away. There’s nothing deceptive about it…. It’s entirely possible the person receiving the latter was contributed money to the RNC in the past."

Asked if RNC Chairman Marc Racicot — whose signature appears at the end of the letter — had actually read the letter, Dyke says: "I don’t know."

Adds Dyke, "I assume our legal counsel – Tom Josefiak – approved this letter…. If there’s any legal problem associated with it, he’s the person to talk to. Not me."

Recipients of deceptive political mailings like the "Dearing Sustaining Member" letter should heed the following advice from the US Postal Service:

"Con artists often make large mailings of illegal solicitations. Don’t be swayed by their carefully scripted sales pitches and pressure tactics.

"Even better, arm yourself in the best possible way against falling victim to these kinds of frauds — by knowing how these con men operate and being prepared to ignore their come-ons.

"Even if you are not fooled, you can help the Postal Inspection Service learn of such mailings by reporting the receipt of non-conforming solicitations to your local postmaster or the nearest Postal Inspector. The Postal Inspection Service may be able to prevent other business people from being victimized. If you receive a mailing promising you a free prize… contact the Postal Inspector:

Inspection Service Support Group

Attn: Fraud Section, Suite 1250

222 S. Riverside Plaza

Chicago, IL 60606-6100"

Send questions or comments to: [email protected].

<<10 September 2002>>