The above is a picture of the latest and most serious escalation in the junk mail wars. This actually scared my wife. She thought someone was going to come and arrest me.
It was a credit card offer.
It might be a little tough to tell from the picture, but the text of the warning that gave my wife a cardiac arrest reads:
“WARNING: $2000.00 fine, 5 years imprisonment, or both for any person interfering or obstructing with delivery of this letter U.S. Mail TTT 18 SEC 1720 U.S. Code.”
Sure there is the obligatory junk mail “Respond within 5 days” on there, too. But what really dropped her to the floor was quoting a code section.
As a general rule, if you really want to get someone’s attention, quote a code section.
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Yet another reason to sign the petition for a national Do Not Mail Registry at donotmail.org.
Junk mail accounts for 30% of all the mail delivered in the world. Why are we receiving nearly a third of the world’s mail when we don’t want ti and never asked for it?
When you add to that the fact that deforestation accounts for one fifth of global carbon emissions, and it’s clear that this outdated 20th Century practice will not help us meet the the challenges of the 21st.
It’s annoying, it’s wasteful, and as the above anecdote demonstrates, it’s only getting worse as they get more desperate. Let’s move on: donotmail.org
Will on May 14th, 2008 at 8:57 am | Link
To stop those annoying credit card and auto insurance mailings sign up at www.optoutprescreen.com to be taken off the list for Equifax, Experian, Innovis, and TransUnion, (collectively the “Consumer Credit Reporting Companies”) They also have a 1-800 number you can call. I did it and so did my parents and we both have noticed a major drop in junk mail, I get maybe one every 2-3 weeks now. (I was given this website by the MN Atty generals office so I know it’s legit)
Jen on May 21st, 2008 at 11:33 pm | Link