The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-04-12
SW|NDL|NG BY The MAIL.
Frauds Who Carry IN This Business
by Means of the Post
office.
Thousands of Persons Who Make
a Living in That
Way.
Some of the Methods Which They Employ
Why the Government Cannot
Stop the Thing.

'"There are at least 10000 men in the
United States who use the mails for the
purpose of paltry fraud"
Such was tbs remark of one of Unole
SANS postofice inspectors to a New York
News reporter In room 104, the new quar-
ters of the special detective service in the
federal building.
Perhaps" he continued, "there is moth
ing more easy than to cheat the public
through the mails. if you are satisfied in
getting small sums from zach sucker you
catch. Everyone knows that the sawdust
men come to grief very often. through the
work of postal detectives. The reason ia
simple enough. This green goods men
want to make too much out of each green
horn they catch. The mar who fin Ia he is
out $100 will naturally make a kick. and on
his complaint we can go to work and stop
the swindlers' mail and arrest them"
1T is quite a different thing, however,
when a man has only lost Is cents to some
swindlinR and bogus advertisement" he
wont on. 'The public, generally, is not
aware that our powers under the law are
extremely limited. No matter how many
petty frauds are perpetrased through the
AlAllUs VIC C0AkOt tdhO tu0 !lAb4it4SSs n
formal complaint must be made by some
victim. This is so we'll known that year
by year the number of petty swindles is
constantly on the increase. Human nature
is such that no man likes to acknowledge
that he is I'M internal fool for 25 cents, so
these swindlera WAX fat. The general plan
of all there workers is simple enough.
They insert through one of the large adver-
tisinR agencies in say 800 newspapers scat
fArnN thrcuNhcrt tho TIuifmS Etn4au or1
Canada and hire a poatoAlce box to which
they havs THAR mail addressed.
1.-The adj is to the effect" he explained,
that by sending 10 to % centB in stampa to
the advertiser that the sendsr will be APP
pointed as an agent for the anle of some
thing or another that will bring he or she in
$40 or $50 a week income, with little or no
labor. Others are that by sanding similar
sums receipts will be forwarded for the cure
of badness, toothachs, govt and a hundred
other ills that the flesh is heir to, too. The
fools who lnclose their money in a majority
of cases never receive even an answer "a
their communications, bnt sometimes the
charity of an answer and II postage stamp il
returned. But the answer generally makes
the man sorry that he ever recsiysd it. The
bald-headed man ia advised from PhiladoI
phia to ''buy our hair tonic" the fellow
with the toothaehe to fill his mouth will
water and hug a stove till it beils, and t.
the man with govt to live on q dime q da,
and work hard for it.
perhaps the bsst joker OF the Who'll,
crowd is the fellow who is now advertisin.
all over the south and southwest how t
make $40 4 week during the Worlds fair.
He only charges 10 cents in stanapB for hi
grent secret, and his mail every day fills
good-sized sack. He r%sliqiously answer
every correspondent, with the followin
brisf response: 'Dsnr sir, Just do as ] do
OF course. even the victim enjoys the joke
~ it only costs 10 ~cents,"