Hi, everyone. I, like so many others here on this thread, am new to ATS, and am thankful to Kirsten Hart (real or unreal person) for sending me the
6-page invitation to the "secret society" called "NovaTech Society" so that I was able to find all of you in particular, and this site in
general.
I didn't return the invitation, which would have requested Manuscript #33619-E "
absolutely free!" - nor did I ever consider doing so.
There were many reasons for my desicion to not act upon this "
completely free of charge" invitation:
- The name to whom they sent the letter included my maiden name instead of my married name. (I am in the midst of a divorce and am taking back my
maiden name, but it is not yet my LEGAL name.)
- The address to which the letter was sent is a new address. (I just moved into my newly-purchased home on August 3rd and have not yet sent out my
address change to all that I must.)
- The letter had a code above my name and address, yet the first sentence said, "This is a personal letter just to you."
- The word "free" was written a total of 15 times.
- At the end of the letter there was a bar code placed under "Manuscript #:33169-E" and was centered just above the numbers
"006664030."
- There was "Copyright 2004" at the end of the letter.
- The numbers "34836" were printed on the lower right-hand corner of each page of the "invitation."
- Kirsten Hart's "signature" was printed with the letter - not even stamped, let alone a real signature.
In my younger years I was an independent "script" writer for some major companies in the St. Louis, Missouri area who used telemarketing as part of
their advertising/sales/lead promotion tactics. I immediately recognized this badly-written letter as an attempt to "hook" the reader by stating
that some people (who must remain unnamed at this time) in this world have recognized the reader in a way that mirrors their own self-recognition.
(Talk about telling someone what they want to hear! Everyone needs and wants recognition!)
Any presentation, in this case "the letter of invitation," must "catch" the listener (reader) within the first few seconds. The first line of the
letter will do just that to many who are not "in the know." From there on out it's merely putting out the bait, by bypassing the common sense of
the often generally intelligent person on the receiving end of the presentation through ego stroking, and finishing by hooking (and crooking) them
(out of their hard-earned money).
Those who send off for the "Free" information will either like what they see and send off for more (for $$$) or will have their curiosity satisfied
and go on with life as they were, dismissing the whole incident entirely.
Personally, I have never purchased anything online, and the only credit I have is through my mortgage company. I don't even have (nor will I ever
have) a credit card of any kind. I don't believe in credit as a way of life, but that's a completely different discussion!
I don't do
business, per se, over the internet at all. I am, however, an insomniac, and I may be found several "midnight-4:00 am"s at one of the many "game
sites" like Slingo, Gamesville, or Pogo so that the monotony of the games will eventually put me to sleep.
As I said, this is a new house for me, and I have not as yet finished sending out my address change to people/businesses who need to know it, and I am
in the process of a divorce and will be taking my maiden name as my legal name... but it isn't a done deal yet. I have, however, changed my name and
physical address at a few places (such as the game sites I mentioned) on the Net and have updated some of my newsletters also through the Net.
Now - this makes me lean toward the idea that we, who have received this letter of invitation, have been chosen because the party(s) behind the whole
scheme have purchased a criteria-meeting personal information list(s) from a personal information provider via the internet. (Anyone with a free
web-based email address i.e.: Hotmail, Yahoo, Lycos, NetScape and/or an IM account including Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, AIM, ICQ, and any number
of others, are always at risk at having their personal information shared with third parties and email/information list providers.)These lists are
easy to come by and are readily sold to spammers, telemarketers, and others on a regular basis (both legitimate businesses and seedy companies alike).
Since this letter has been sent to our physical addresses through the USPS, I am going under the assumption that the people behind the scheme have
used their acquired list similarly to email spammers, having altered the email spam style in order to catch people off guard by using regular mail.
We have spam blockers for our email, and for the spam that does make it into our inboxes... well, we're usually smart enough to pick them out and
block them without ever having to open them. People generally DO open their mail that comes into their mailboxes at their homes/businesses/PO Boxes.
So... by doing their "business" scheme through the mail, they are using their heads - and are increasing their potential "customers" many times
more than any email spam will do today.
These people are smart, shrewd, and will make a LOT of money from people who are unsuspecting. In fact, they will most likely have many people who
will be completely satisfied and will find that everything written in the letter has happened to them... because they've convinced themselves these
things have happened (whether they REALLY have or not) because of their personal brilliance and great insight to have joined the "NovaTech Secret
Society." They will be so happy they never told anyone about their invitation... after all... it's a "secret" society and they have an obligation
to keep it secret!
Most importantly to the NovaTech Secret Society, those who keep their mouths shut about it, as suggested by the letter of
invitation, won't be going to the BBB or local authorities about the scheme! A prime example of the CYA syndrome (Cover Your A...)
Best wishes to all...
P.S. Many telemarketing offices throughout the country use the hook-and-line term "Mullet!" when a lead/sale has been accomplished. What's a
mullet? A FISH, of course!
I can imagine, when the checks/credit card payments come in (oh, how cc payments are coveted and cherished), them laughing all the way to the bank,
sending out their over-priced materials they so cheaply print and bind on-site. ANYONE can set up a commercial printing machine and binder - all a
person needs is the space in which to put it - and they are fed by computers. Quite a nice little setup for them, if I say so myself... not, however,
very creative... quite humdrum... But they will continue to make money because there will always be people with more money than sense (some may even
be short on money, which really says something for their sense!).
[edit on 10/13/2004 by KayJay]
) and received the booklet that was no more than an ad for their 1000+ paged book. I wondered where all these FREE secrets were. They said
if I mailed or faxed it back by the date "we will share with you our secrets, totally free!" The book I got after sending the fax now said I had to
send them over $100 for these "FREE" secrets. Just to see what they would do, I crossed out the price on the order form and wrote FREE under it.
Still haven't heard back from them on that one, oh well. If they are a Santanic colt, I don't want to have anything to do with them. 
)
