CCD Research, LLC

A forum for posting "You have one the lottery" letters, and for asking whether the e-mail that your received is real (it isn't). Real lotteries do NOT advise winners by e-mail, and they do NOT require the payment of any fees up-front.
Kestrel
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CCD Research, LLC

Post by Kestrel »

Today's mail had a new offering. The stamp is a funky "Presorted First Class" stamp, so I already know there's nothing special inside. The return address is on a colorful sticker: Mary Evans, 1005 River Knoll Drive, Holly Hill, FL 32117. According to the USPS address checker there is a River Knoll Lane in Holly Hill, FL. River Knoll Drive doesn't exist there. Strike one.
[big bold letterhead:] CCD RESEARCH, LLC

We would like your householld [sic] to participate in our marketing study and promotion. For your participation, you will receive a FREE Android Tablet Computer.

[snip]

You are under no obligation to pay, purchase or subscribe to anything to recieve [sic] your tablet. There is no cost for shipping and handling.
It's funny. For all their sophistication in assembling mail-merge documents, you'd think they would at least make one attempt to use the spell-checker. Strike two.

Page two is a product survey claiming that CCD Research, LLC is at the same Florida address shown on the outside of the envelope. A quick query at the Florida Department of State Division of Corporations website reveals that there is no corporation registered in Florida with that name. Strike three and out.

Finally, to add zest to my mirth, I checked the phone number given in the letter on 800Notes.com. It comes up as a phone number belonging to scammers, and cross-references to reports of other scams originating from the same funky address, including a cruise with free airfare and hotel for listening to a sales presentation for a "membership travel program."

And the website in the letter is invalid.

Criminey. Those presorted first-class stamps cost 36 cents each, with a minimum of 500 pieces required in the mailing batch. That's $180+ in postage alone. Envelopes, paper, computer, mailing list, printing, and the labor or equipment required to stuff the envelopes cost more.

If I were running a scam and had to put a bunch of my own money in up front, you can be darn sure I would: 1) use spell-checker, 2) make sure my website was running, 3) NOT re-use a bogus corporation name that was already linked with other easy-to-verify frauds.
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." - Robert Heinlein
Judge Roy Bean
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Re: CCD Research, LLC

Post by Judge Roy Bean »

Kestrel wrote:...
If I were running a scam and had to put a bunch of my own money in up front, you can be darn sure I would: 1) use spell-checker, 2) make sure my website was running, 3) NOT re-use a bogus corporation name that was already linked with other easy-to-verify frauds.
Scammers are most often a combination of ignorant and stupid trying to make a few bucks as fast as they can. Then, every once in a while you run across the full-tilt boogie-woogie delusional like Van Pelt or the poster who went by "stija."

The really business-savvy get into promotion on a level well beyond individual practice. I need only remind this august body of the Dorean Group to see how far and how fast the virus can spread.

The heart of the matter is whether or not you are willing to bend the truth to your financial benefit.
The Honorable Judge Roy Bean
The world is a car and you're a crash-test dummy.
The Devil Makes Three
ImaRascal

Re: CCD Research, LLC

Post by ImaRascal »

Looks like the web site is up. Here's a bit more from their web site:

"Unless otherwise stated in writing, we ask that you attend a sales presentation to receive your promotional gifts. The sales presentation will last 90 minutes. Married or Cohabiting couples are asked to attend the presentation together. Valid identification is required on check-in. The annual household income of the attending parties must be in excess of $40K annually. Attending parties must be between the ages of 25 and 70 years of age. Children are not allowed to attend the presentation. All presentations begin on time. You are required to be at the presentation and checked-in by your scheduled reservation time. You are not eligible to attend this presentation or receive the gifts if you have attended a presentation with the hosting company in the last 6 months.

IL residents: Goods, services, or other merchandise may be offered for sale if the recipient calls the telephone number. OH residents: The purpose of this contact is to effect the sale of a membership travel program and an attempt will be made to induce you to undertake a monetary obligation.

Do not rely on information obtained verbally. All attendees must arrive with a printed copy of their VIP Confirmation.

Please allow 4 - 6 weeks for delivery of item(s). This offer is valid while supplies last. Product shown is for illustrative purposes and may be replaced with an item of equal or greater value. This certificate is non-transferable and has no cash surrender value. Only original certificates will be accepted. Limit one per household per 12 month period. Certificate must be received postmarked within 10 days of the issue date or by expiration date, whichever comes first, along with a copy of a valid picture ID offer is void. "
Kestrel
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Re: CCD Research, LLC

Post by Kestrel »

The problem with these "free" travel programs, cruises and other prizes is that there is ALWAYS a hidden fee which far exceeds the claimed value of the prize. Far too often, even after slamming you with the hidden fee, the prize itself is merely a voucher which can't be redeemed for anything, anywhere.

When the solicitation itself is full of lies and errors, Caveat Emptor.
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." - Robert Heinlein
brino99

Re: CCD Research, LLC - Free Trips

Post by brino99 »

I got my letter yesterday offering airline tickets, hotel stay, rental car and a $50.00 Travelocity gift card. The Travelocity logo is displayed at the top of the page. I called Travelocity and they said while the company was "legit" to give away gift cards, they were not authorized to use the Travelocity logo.

A poster on here asked how someone could be so careless in setting up their scam. As long as there are enough fools out there too uninfomed to do a little research, they can make their investment back in a hurry preying off the uneducated and in alot of cases, the elderly. My dad was a brilliant man, but after his stroke, he was falling for all kinds of scams through the mail and over the phone offering something for "nothing."
Cathulhu
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Re: CCD Research, LLC - Free Trips

Post by Cathulhu »

brino99 wrote: A poster on here asked how someone could be so careless in setting up their scam. As long as there are enough fools out there too uninfomed to do a little research, they can make their investment back in a hurry preying off the uneducated and in alot of cases, the elderly. My dad was a brilliant man, but after his stroke, he was falling for all kinds of scams through the mail and over the phone offering something for "nothing."
What he said! I bought my parents a simple answering machine (big buttons help; vision goes first, as I'm learning), then recorded a message in my most Official Voice saying "You have reached XXX-XXXX; no one is available to take your call. Please be aware we have a policy here of never purchasing or donating anything as a result of telephone solicitation. Leave your message at the tone." The aunties (I have lots) were all startled about it at first, then they got their own versions on their answering machines. The most difficult part of making this work was getting the parents to let the machine screen calls.
Goodness is about what you do. Not what you pray to. T. Pratchett
Always be a moving target. L.M. Bujold
Tramble

Re: CCD Research, LLC

Post by Tramble »

Thanks muchly for your postings on the CCD Research, LLC "marketing study." My husband and I registered to attend a presentation tonight, in spite of the fact that the "carrot" in the initial contact letter stated "For your participation, you will receive a Free Android Tablet Computer." A phone call to the number in the letter revealed that this letter was a "come on" for an "Open House Presentation. . . .from leaders in the travel industry on how to save. . .yadda,yadda, yadda." Smelled a RAT and checked the internet for a scam. So appreciative of the comments from all of you who posted comments about CCD Research, LLC. You all saved us 90 minutes of wasted time!
Kestrel
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Re: CCD Research, LLC

Post by Kestrel »

Tramble wrote:Thanks muchly for your postings on the CCD Research, LLC "marketing study." My husband and I registered to attend a presentation tonight, in spite of the fact that the "carrot" in the initial contact letter stated "For your participation, you will receive a Free Android Tablet Computer." A phone call to the number in the letter revealed that this letter was a "come on" for an "Open House Presentation. . . .from leaders in the travel industry on how to save. . .yadda,yadda, yadda." Smelled a RAT and checked the internet for a scam. So appreciative of the comments from all of you who posted comments about CCD Research, LLC. You all saved us 90 minutes of wasted time!
You're welcome for the tip-off, and welcome to Quatloos. Glad to be of service.
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." - Robert Heinlein
aquadude

Re: CCD Research, LLC

Post by aquadude »

Wow, am I glad to find you guys! I got my letter from CCD Research today. I've heard about the Nigerian Scams for years so I was suspect.
My basic rule is: Nothing is free.

I too did some research on the interwebs and found the same results as some others on the board.
No website
Not a valid corporation
Bogus return address.

There are valid research and marketing firms out there as I have been involved with them off and on for 20 years. The difference is they call you on the phone and survey you to see if you match there current research activities. Then they tell you it pays $50, $75 or even $100 for an hour of your time at their offices. Most of these blind marketing survey sessions are for retailers so they are pretty legit. It's some great extra spending cash!

Another good resource for researching these MLM scams is Clark Howard. He is a consumer advocate out of Atlanta that has a daily radio show on WSB750 AM and a TV show on HLN. He's a great guy too. His staff has been enormously helpful to me and thousands of consumers for over 20 years. They provide a lot of consumer information on his website - ClarkHoward.com

Thanks again for your forum and keep up the good work!
hostage

Re: CCD Research, LLC

Post by hostage »

FYI: Found this for that address:
[Mod: Remainder of post redacted. Post contained personal information about someone at a certain address. The only thing either the person or the address had in common with the thread was the particular community in FL. Post may be a commercial for a certain people locator service. Since this is not certain, poster does not receive the usual treatment this board gives commercial spammers.]
Last edited by wserra on Wed Jul 10, 2013 10:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Self-explanatory.
Thule
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Re: CCD Research, LLC

Post by Thule »

Kestrel wrote: If I were running a scam and had to put a bunch of my own money in up front, you can be darn sure I would: 1) use spell-checker, 2) make sure my website was running, 3) NOT re-use a bogus corporation name that was already linked with other easy-to-verify frauds.
Poor spelling might actually be to the scammers advantage. Since you did the background checks, you are probably too suspicious to be of any interest anyway. Even if you answered, chances are you would smell a rat before they could make any money of you.

However, those people who fail to notice the poor spelling and the other errors, those are the ones you want to reach. If they fail to notice the glaring errors, they should be gullible enough to pay "a small handling fee" without questions as well.

There is some research on this, using Nigeria mails as an example.

http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs ... ?id=167713
Survivor of the Dark Agenda Whistleblower Award, August 2012.
Burnaby49
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Re: CCD Research, LLC

Post by Burnaby49 »

Thule wrote:
Kestrel wrote: If I were running a scam and had to put a bunch of my own money in up front, you can be darn sure I would: 1) use spell-checker, 2) make sure my website was running, 3) NOT re-use a bogus corporation name that was already linked with other easy-to-verify frauds.
Poor spelling might actually be to the scammers advantage. Since you did the background checks, you are probably too suspicious to be of any interest anyway. Even if you answered, chances are you would smell a rat before they could make any money of you.

However, those people who fail to notice the poor spelling and the other errors, those are the ones you want to reach. If they fail to notice the glaring errors, they should be gullible enough to pay "a small handling fee" without questions as well.

There is some research on this, using Nigeria mails as an example.

http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs ... ?id=167713
I read a scholarly dissertation on exactly this point once. The article's conclusion (it related to Nigerian scams) was that the poor english and spelling was actually a deliberate and fairly sophisticated screening device. The scammers didn't want to waste time on potential suckers who had a shred of education and literacy so would see through their ploy. So they pre-screened by having people like me have a laugh and move on. That left the gullible.
"Yes Burnaby49, I do in fact believe all process servers are peace officers. I've good reason to believe so." Robert Menard in his May 28, 2015 video "Process Servers".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeI-J2PhdGs
ravisretcb

Re: CCD Research, LLC

Post by ravisretcb »

I received the Free Android Tablet letter today, just as described here. I immediate did an online search and found this forum. Thank you very much for the information.
Kestrel
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Re: CCD Research, LLC

Post by Kestrel »

Wow. I just noticed this thread has been viewed nearly 14,000 times, even though it's only two months old and has only 12 (now 13) replies. Is this a new Quatloos record?

Either it's helping lots of people (for which I'd be quite pleased) or it's drawing lots of bots (sorry, Webhick).

I hope it's the former. Folks, if you came to Q for this topic, welcome and please keep reading. LOTS of good information here.
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." - Robert Heinlein
Steve10010

Re: CCD Research, LLC

Post by Steve10010 »

Received this in the mail, Googled because it looked fishy, and this was first link that came up. Thanks everyone for providing the resource base to evaluate these things.
cshady1

Re: CCD Research, LLC

Post by cshady1 »

Thank you for posting information regarding CCD, LLC. I recieved this scam letter today and I immediately looked them up and this was the first web page that came. What I find interesting is that even though the return address was in Florida, the person that supposely sent the letter was the name of a close friend of mine. My email was hacked a while back and i'm wonder if this scamer was the hacker. This post was so helpful...thanks again!
crodgers

Re: CCD Research, LLC

Post by crodgers »

Got a similar letter. Spelling has been corrected. Same stamp. From Cara Langley, 1648 Taylor Road #464, Port Orange, FL, 32128. Call (888) 986-8170. I suspect the 12 digit package code pulls up your specific info for them. They already know my name on the phone.

They are into market survey, etc. It was probably a presentation because the min requirements when I checked their web site was $40k+ income, 25-70yo, and spouse or significant other must accompany.

We'll see if this stops some of it: When they asked to verify, I said yes to >40k, yes to 25-70yo, NO to spouse and then NO to significant other. She said thanks, she has corrected the demographics and they might contact me for a different study in the future, but no quals for this one. Maybe that will get me out of several others...
Tryz

Re: CCD Research, LLC

Post by Tryz »

My experience was a little different and I actually got the Android tablet.

We got the same letter that the previous poster took an image of. I figured it was a scam, but also figured it didn't hurt to call. The woman "guaranteed" me that I'd walk out with the tablet. Not that I really believed it, but...

My wife and I went to the presentation today. When I got there, I confirmed that we'd actually get the tablet today. The receptionist was a bit rude, but said 'yes'. I tend to be a nice guy so I was polite, but I made sure she looked me in the eye when she answered me.

We live in Orlando and the event was for a vacation program. I knew it would be a sales pitch. The original operator explained that so I wasn't surprised. My wife and I weren't doing anything else so we decided to go. We were put in a room with about 15 other couples. Right before the presentation started, some couples (including us) were called out. We each went directly to a sales person and didn't have to sit through the movie pitch.

The sales guy was super nice and the vacation program was interesting, but in the end the price was ridiculous. We were there about 60 minutes and when the guy showed us the price we said 'no'. He was nice and brought in 'the boss'. The boss was more gruff and a bit rude, but handed over the tablet. He started a heavier pitch, but I said we just couldn't do it. That was it.

The tablet was a generic 7" with Android 4.0. I can't tell if it's a refurb or just a generic. It's clean and no scratches, but the box was a bit squished. It reminds me of something you'd find at a flea market. That said, it works.

To be honest, I never expected to walk out with the tablet. I don't know if others got it or just those of us that were pulled out. So, in the end I got exactly what the letter said.