Nixon seeks out mail scam artists

More than 300 senior citizens held on to any mail solicitations they received in May and submitted them to Nixon’s office. Nixon and senior volunteers met at the Southside Senior Center yesterday to sort through the fake offers of lottery winners, charity solicitations and magazine subscriptions in search of any attempts to mislead Missourians.

The event was part of Nixon’s Senior Sting 2006. He is scheduled to make similar stops in eight other Missouri cities.

Nixon’s Consumer Protection Division next will go through all the collected mail, and Nixon says he’ll take legal action if he comes across mail con artists.

“The scam artists know that Missouri has one of the toughest No Call programs in the country; spam filters are also getting tougher,” he said in a news release. “So, the crooks are relying more heavily on the mail to try to separate people from their money.”

Consumers who receive suspicious offers in the mail can contact Nixon’s office through its Web site, www.ago.mo.gov, or by calling (800) 392-8222.