A nationwide scam is seeking to swindle people out of hundreds of dollars by sending out fake billing notices.
Subscribers have called newspapers saying they had received renewal notices from "Circulation Billing Services." The company requests subscribers pay $499 for a one-year subscription and provides a toll-free number of 707-266-6673. The mailing address to return a payment shows White City, Ore.
Carroll Duckworth, circulation director for the Times Free Press, said if subscribers receive a renewal notice, they should check the return address and phone number area code on the notice.
"It should have our own return address on it, and it shouldn't have an area code outside of our area," he said.
The Times Free Press is not involved in any such offers, but if you suspect your bill is wrong call circulation at 423-757-6262, Duckworth said.
Here are some tips from the Federal Trade Commission to help avoid newspaper renewal scams:
• Pay online at the newspaper's website, or contact the paper's subscription department by phone. Use the number on your paper, online, or on a previous bill that you know is real.
• Sign up for auto-renewal and payment, so that you don't have to rely on renewal notices sent by postal mail.
• Be aware of changes to your bill. If the price or billing period changes, get in touch with the paper using a phone number or address you know is real. In some cases, the price on fake invoices has been four times higher than usual, and the subscription period has been a year, instead of monthly or quarterly.
• If the invoice comes from a company you haven't heard of, or if it has errors and misspellings, those could be tip-offs to a rip-off.