The INDEPENDENT, July 1, 2010
Warning about sweepstakes letter scam
Attorney General John
Kroger is warning Oregonians
not to respond to an unsolicited
“sweepstakes” letter claiming
that the recipient has “won”
money and only needs to pay a
small fee to obtain it. The De-
partment of Justice Consumer
Hotline has received calls in-
quiring about a letter from the
“Data Release Division” based
in Jericho, New York. The letter
claims to be a “guaranteed
sweepstakes award,” notifying
the recipient they have won
$1.4 million. In reality, this letter
is a deceptive solicitation than
seeks money from unsuspect-
ing Oregon consumers.
The Department of Justice
has sent a letter to the “Data
Release Division” ordering the
company to cease mailing this
deceptive letter to Oregon con-
sumers or face sanctions for vi-
olating Oregon’s the Unlawful
Trade Practices Act.
Bogus sweepstakes and lot-
tery offers are among the most
common scams that seek to rip
off consumers. In 2009, more
than 1,000 Oregon consumers
reported losing in excess of
$700,000 to sweepstakes, lot-
tery and other scams.
Attorney General Kroger of-
fers the following advice re-
garding unsolicited telephone
calls, mail or e-mail claiming
that the recipient won a sweep-
stakes or lottery:
• Participating in a foreign
lottery is illegal. Often these
schemes are closely tied to or-
ganized crime.
• Never pay-to-play in a
sweepstakes.
• Beware of fake organiza-
tions using names similar to
more well-known groups in an
attempt to trick consumers.
• Government agencies do
not sponsor sweepstakes.
• Never wire money to re-
ceive a prize. Con artists fre-
quently send victims fake
checks as a “first down-pay-
ment” of their winnings, asking
that a percentage be wired
back under the misrepresenta-
tion that it will be used to “pay
taxes” associated with the “win-
nings.” These fake checks can
sit in one’s checking account
for up to a week before ulti-
mately bouncing.
• Beware of requests for in-
formation about income, credit
card ownership, or bank ac-
counts as a condition of partici-
pating in the sweepstakes or
lottery.
• Do not participate in
sweepstakes, or respond to ad-
vertisements, that resemble a
check, bill, or invoice.
The Oregon Department of
Justice Consumer Hotline, 1-
877-877-9392, is a free re-
source for all Oregonians with
consumer questions, concerns
or complaints. If consumers re-
ceive fake sweepstakes or lot-
tery offers please shred or
delete the offer. If you or some-
one you know has fallen victim
to a sweepstakes or lottery
scam, please contact the Con-
sumer Hotline for assistance.
CCSO offers women’s self-defense class
The Columbia County Sher-
iff’s Office is offering a women’s
self-defense class every other
Saturday in July and August.
The classes will be held in the
Sheriff’s Office Training/Confer-
ence Room at 901 Port Av-
enue, in St. Helens. The class
will be offered free of charge to
Columbia County residents and
a light lunch will be provided at
no charge.
Classes are offered on the
following Saturdays: July 17,
July 31, August 14 and August
28. The classes will run from
9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with a
light lunch provided at no cost.
Although the classes are free,
registration is required. Class
space is limited, so early regis-
tration is encouraged.
The course will be taught by
instructors who are certified in
defensive tactics by the Oregon
Department of Public Safety
Standards
and
Training
(DPSST) and American Coun-
cil on Criminal Justice Training
(ACCJT). The course is de-
signed to teach participants
skills to protect themselves in
situations that could result in
serious assault or death. The
course will be taught in “hands
on” format. Topics will include
personal safety strategies for
the workplace and travel.
All participants are asked to
bring a bottle of water and to
wear comfortable clothing,
socks and tennis shoes. Partic-
ipants under the age of 18 are
required to have a parent pres-
ent and sign a release form in
order to participate in the class.
If you plan to send your child
with another adult, please con-
tact the Sheriff’s Office prior to
the class to ensure the accom-
modation can be made. Due to
the mature nature of the infor-
mation presented, this class is
not appropriate for children 15
years and younger.
Pre-registration is required.
Registration forms are avail-
able at the Columbia County
Sheriff’s Office, or on line to
www.co.columbia.or.us/sheriff.
Questions may be directed to
Timmi Sue at the Sheriff’s Of-
fice, 503-366-4651.
By Jacqueline Ramsay
Hello and maybe so long for awhile to
my loyal followers.
It seems the first day of summer was
NOT a good day for me. I let Shadow out
for her morning road (I was in my P.J.’s),
turned around to come in the house,
stubbed my toes, down I went. All I could
think of was, “Don’t land on your left arm or
your face.” So, I threw myself to the right, lit
KABOOM on my right hand and CRACK
went my right wrist.
So, I am typing this left-handed, one key at a time, hitting a
wrong one once in awhile. Ho, ho.
How much I’ll be able to plunk out at a sitting will be the boss
because I’m supposed to keep my right hand above my heart, to
keep the swelling down. Don’t get the real cast on until Monday.
I just wanted to let you all know, 80 and 85 degrees here, so
maybe (yeah, just maybe) summer is finally here.
Since I can’t hold a pencil I will print off now.
24 Years Ago This Month
The July 31, 1986, issue of
The Independent included the
following news story on the
front page:
Apathy was not the order of
the day as a standing-room-
only crowd attended the Ver-
nonia City Council meeting on
July 21, 1986.
Many of the attendees were
there to support Bill and Faye
Sword’s use of a road through
Anderson Park that the city had
closed to them in June.
Though asked by Mayor
Wallace Vaughn to limit his
comments to five minutes be-
cause of a crowded agenda,
Bill Sword said he didn’t think
he could do so, then presented
a concise chronology showing
nearly 100 years of use of the
road by the Sword family, and
an even longer history of use
by the community. He docu-
mented his presentation with
old pictures and paintings.
Sword’s presentation was
necessitated by the city closing
the road after receiving com-
plaints about possible damage
to the caretaker’s trailer in An-
derson Park from vibrations
caused by heavy equipment
using the road.
Although Sword, at that time,
said he could document his
family’s use of the road, the city
issued orders to prevent its use
for moving logs from Sword’s
Please see page 22
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